Business Beware is the voice for all small business owners where they can forewarn each other about unruly customers and collect money they're owed. Save your business time, money and headaches when dealing with customers who have become a problem.
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The Mission:
The BB mission is to strengthen the relationships between a business and its customers. If communication falls short between the two, our job is to bridge that gap. As small business owners, we are grateful for our good customers, but since the customer is not always right, we believe the business has a right to fire unwelcome “CustoMonsters™.”
How it all started:
Business Beware™ started as a place for business owners to warn each other about customers that have become a problem for their business. As the site began to grow, we began to notice that most of the complaints were business owners having trouble collecting their money from non-paying customers… sparking a new idea in our heads, the “beware letter.”
We are business owners ourselves and we know it’s no fun when you complete a large and awesome project that you’re proud of and then don’t get paid for it. It’s not just a low blow to the ego, it’s a low blow to your business staying afloat. When we created the letter we tried on 10 of our customers in our businesses that owed us and 9 out of 10 mailed in their checks or called us with their credit card numbers ready to pay. It works and if this can help you save money and time with your own business, then we’re tickled to death because we know just how important both are to a business. It’s your choice but it’s sort of a no-brainer when you compare it on paper….0% vs 20-50%
For the past 25 years, I have been involved with the service industry, with most of those years, owning my own business. As a young man, I was taught that in life and in business, you were to have integrity. This has been a mainstay for my foundation of my life and businesses. The problem is that there are a increasing amount of people who do not hold these same values. I grew up during a time when most people were told " the customer was always right", but that isn't always true. Our goal is to shed light to businesses, who are trying to work hard and do a good service for customers, but have had to deal with slow paying customers, customers who will not pay, and customers who you cannot please.
The idea for BusinessBeware.biz came from years ago when I was eating lunch with a fellow friend and business owner. We sat there talking about our businesses when we both said that there was a customer that had given us such a headache while trying to work with them and we both realized we were talking about the same person! After that I thought about how many others came across the same thing where some of the same customers are giving different businesses a hard time. That's when the idea about a site where businesses can warn each other about these certain "hard to please" customers came to me and from there, Business Beware™ was created.
Many have told me how to handle the customers if they give you trouble and I always have, but it is time for us to do something about it. Most forums you see out there right now are giving you advice how to handle them, but we want you to be aware of the customers you have to deal with or learn from other businesses personal experiences with some hard to please customers. There is nothing wrong with trying to learn how to deal with your customers, but Business Beware™ is an outlet for you to find out about customers in your area who you may be dealing with in the future.
