IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A CELEBRATORY LUNCH-THE KIND WHERE YOU ORDER FRENCH FRIES AND CHEESECAKE, THEN GO HOME TO NAP AND DON'T EVEN FEEL BAD ABOUT IT.
Instead, Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson were sitting in an Atlanta restaurant, dazed with disappointment, talking in circles, returning again and again to the same confounding question: How did we not know this?
It was 2010, and three years earlier, the women had cofounded a company called Nourish, which made grab-and-go baby bottles filled with premeasured, purified water for easy formula mixing. The company had been finding its legs, one wobbly step at a time. Then, Whole Foods placed a huge order of their product.
"It was, like, orders of magnitude bigger than anything we'd done before," Hodgson says. They were ecstatic. This is what they should've been celebrating. But then they read the payment terms. "We discovered that we weren't going to get paid for three to four months. I mean, no small business can handle that."
The women had run headlong into an unspoken rule: the bigger the buyer, the longer they take to pay. And it didn't even matter what the official payment schedule was. "If your invoice says net 30 or net 60 or net 90-that's just a suggestion," Hodgson says. "We know now that the average net 30 invoice pays in 54 days. But back then, when we realized all this, I just remember thinking, like, Was I sick one day in business school? Why does no one talk about this?"
They had more questions, too. Why was this the status quo? Why did no one seem to think it was a big deal? And why-in a country that calls small businesses the backbone of the economy-had no one bothered to create a better solution?
Esta historia es de la edición March - April 2024 de Entrepreneur US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March - April 2024 de Entrepreneur US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
MY FAVORITE CUSTOMER
For small, independent businesses, loyal patrons are benefactors, protectors, muses, and mascots. They make sure the show goes on. Here, three business owners celebrate an irreplaceable member of their community.
Do You Say 'Yes' Enough?
We don't give ourselves enough credit for trying. So let's start doing it right now.
He Does $10 Million-Plus in Sales
When Jeffrey Bell gave up horse training to buy a Floor Coverings International franchise, he wanted to get out ahead of his new pack. To do that, he had to learn to delegate.
How This Business Rookie Became a Top Seller
After competing in two Olympics, Cammile Adams dove headfirst into her second career - and became SafeSplash Swim School's #1 franchisee. Here's how.
How to Pick the Perfect Franchise For You
There are a lot of great brands out there. But that doesn't mean they're all a great fit.
Changing Careers? Consider Franchising.
Here are five reasons why franchise ownership could be the right fit for you.
MAKE A PLAN AND STICK TO IT
There's no one way to market a small business. So how do you get the word out? Experts say you must experiment...and really stick with it.
HOW DAVID BEATS OUT GOLIATH
Can mom-and-pop shops truly compete against big-box behemoths and e-commerce giants? Yes, experts say - but they have to think and act truly local.
MAKING PEOPLE COMFORTABLE DOESN'T HAVE TO COST A FORTUNE
Just ask the couple who built a basically unmarked bar that, within three years, has become one of the most beloved mom-and-pop shops in the country.
If at First You Don't Get Clients...
Try, try again? That's the lesson of Facet, an innovative financial planning startup that tried everything to get its first customers.