By Andrew Athineos, Managing Director, Athena Collections®
Myths vs Reality
Commercial truths every business owner needs to hear.
The Myth
“They’re waiting to be paid themselves, that’s why they haven’t paid us.”
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Why People Believe It
It’s often at least partially true. Cash flow problems cascade through supply chains, and most business owners have experienced this from both sides.
It feels like solidarity, understanding someone else’s cash flow problem because you’ve had one yourself.
It offers a face-saving explanation that doesn’t require confronting the customer directly.
The Reality
It might genuinely be true. But it explains the delay, it doesn’t excuse making you finance their cash flow gap indefinitely.
A business that isn’t being paid by its own customers still has a choice about who it pays first with whatever cash does come in. If that’s consistently not you, that’s a decision, not just a circumstance.
Waiting to be paid is a reason a business might be under pressure. It’s not a reason your invoice should sit unpaid for months. Businesses in this position that intend to keep trading responsibly usually communicate proactively, with a plan, rather than leaving suppliers to find out unprompted.
The Commercial Impact
Silently accepting this explanation puts you in the position of an unsecured lender to a business you have no real visibility into, with no ability to assess whether they’ll recover, and no security if they don’t.
The longer you wait without a clear commitment, the more exposed you become to their situation deteriorating further, potentially into insolvency.
Meanwhile, your own cash flow absorbs the strain, which can put you in the same position you’re being asked to sympathise with.
Case Study
A business accepted “we’re waiting on a big payment ourselves” as the reason for a £15,000 overdue balance, for three months, without asking for anything in writing. The explanation was true, but so was the fact that the customer kept several other suppliers current throughout that period. When the customer eventually entered a CVA, the supplier who had waited quietly recovered only a fraction of what was owed, while suppliers who had pushed for clear commitments early were better positioned.
Andrew’s Verdict
Sympathy is not a strategy. It’s reasonable to have some patience with a business genuinely caught in someone else’s cash flow problem, that happens, and most businesses understand it because they’ve been there. But sympathy without a clear commitment, a date, an amount, something in writing, just means you’re absorbing their risk with none of the information they have about their own situation.
The Bottom Line
Being owed money by someone else explains a delay. It doesn’t obligate you to accept an indefinite one. The businesses that manage this well ask for specifics, in writing, and treat vague reassurance as the start of a conversation, not the end of one.
Ask yourself: if you’re extending patience because “they’re waiting to be paid too”, do you actually know when, or if, that payment is coming, or are you just hoping it works out the way they’ve told you it will?
Your first step should be downloading our FREE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO DEBT COLLECTION, a comprehensive resource designed to help you navigate recovery with confidence. We’re here to look at your specific situation and give you the straight facts, even if that means advising you to cut your losses and focus on preventative measures for next time. If you’re looking for a partner to step in, you can easily request a transparent quote via our PRICING PAGE.