Is your accounts receivable management in working order? If your business is staying afloat, then it should be. That running a business is hard work, no one would dispute, with the exception, perhaps, of only those who have never been in charge of their own enterprise. Being the boss has its excellent rewards, no doubt, but they come at a hefty and heavy toll — a financial, emotional, and social one. Sometimes, when the bills have piled up and sales are stagnant, you need help going after customers who’ve been late making payments.

No business can endure bad debt loss for very long, but going after customers who for one reason or another are late on their payments can exact a significant drain on company resources. At critical points in your company’s sale cycles, it becomes imperative to hire an external commercial debt collection agency. Having by your side folks dedicated solely to the recuperation of bad debt can improve the efficiency of efforts in this direction. A fee will be paid for their services, but compared to the loss generated by overstretched in-house staff, the net gains may outweigh the price paid.

Allocating means for the hiring of independent collection agencies can generate a new source of cash flow for a temporarily struggling business. It’s a way of making every penny coming in count. What doesn’t pay is ignoring, from the general business overview perspective, the importance of debt collection. California, New York, Kansas, Lady Gaga’s beloved Nebraska, no matter where your business is located in or if you’re national or transnational, debt collection is something to take very seriously.

Revenue losses tacked onto unpaid debt does not have to be considered lost for good, or even lost for the time being. With the right agency by your side, even the staunchest debt dodgers can be brought into line. Don’t go it alone, and don’t make your team do so either; your team may be unfamiliar with the best debt collecting strategies to be truly efficient and successful at the task at of bad debt recovery. Go the smart route by hiring professionals for this time-consuming assignment.

Sam Walters is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her writing appears in print and online.