With a sigh of relief, the worst kept secret in the Nursery Industry is out. Babies Galore did the dirty.
Way back in March this year, we received a flood of purchase orders for each of the Babies Galores stores, totalling over $8,000. My heart sank as each one of them dropped into the inbox like a troop of unwanted gate crashers storming into a party. Different scenario, different scene but the side effects the same, we had to deal with them. All I could think was "How much of this are we NOT going to get paid!"
I felt the bile of anxiousness rise up to choke my throat.
Zjarie, our sales manger took one look at them and said "Oh, no, no, no, they are not getting any of those!, not until they pay up the over-dues". Before the new purchases orders arrived, we were still owed more than $12,000, with some invoices older than 9 months. For most part of the previous year of 2009, we struggled to get payment for most of their orders.
Up until 2 years prior, we never had a problem with payment, but then again Babies Galore was then owned by the original owners, the Etkinds, a family business. The new owners, a corporate finance company hadn't continued with the well oiled, successful business model that once was Babies Galore, the Master & Commander of the retail baby goods industry. Business with the then Babies Galore was a dream come true for a small product specific business like ours and many, many others.
Many are now hurting, most are now beyond repair and are looking at closing their doors due to the financial annihilation of the Goliath. For many of the small businesses now reeling, the last year was spent financially supporting a monster in the dark. A monster with some very sinister tricks up their sleeve.
Fortunately for us, we pulled the pin in March, summoned the Hercules courage needed to fight them for our rights. Not only the right to be paid, also the right not to have our product stolen from us, as was the original intention from this insidious company.
Their intention was to cripple the small businesses out of their products, the best selling innovative products were chosen to be manufactured under the Babies Galore brand. As products went secretly to China to be replicated, the businesses that owned the products were investigated for legal loopholes in the intellectual property area. Deliberately not paying, to financially cripple a business from starting litigation against Babies Galore. A mole, an employee with a conscious, from the company alerted the owners of each of the products to be prepared. When he spoke to me, I felt the world had caved in. Our product was being stolen right from under our noses, what could we do?
In between phones calls from other frantic suppliers, we spoke to my IP lawyer. He slammed my laziness for not obtaining the Madrid Protocol, as he had suggested years ago. "It's only 15 thousand dollars, you idiot!" he rammed down my throat through the phone. I sat down, burying my head in my hands, and howled a river of tears. It seemed at that point we were going to lose our product, our income, our way of life, everything we and my family have sacrificed everything for, losing it all to a few sheets of A4 paper.
I stopped sleeping, eating, took up smoking and in the first time in 20 years drank coffee. Life for 3 months was me fueled on nervous energy alone.
Our lawyer came up with a loophole within their loophole, and I was asked to rally all the affected suppliers, some still stupidly continued to supply the doomed trader. In the meantime we were asked by the lawyer to act as supplier mushrooms; left in the dark and fed bullshit. We had to pretend we knew nothing.
There was still the matter of getting paid.
Just before the March orders came through, I and Dom, our accounts gopher, had been on the phone numerous times in the vain effort to extract payment. The lies started to surface.
The reasons and our answers are as follows
1) Invoices over 6 months old were no longer going to be paid. It is up to the supplier to send statements. (um, we sent you statements and overdue notices every single month)
2) That purchase order was cancelled, so payment can't be made, even if the PO was cancelled long after the goods arrived. (goods weren't sent back, so BG is still liable for payment)
3) Goods never arrived. (we use Eparcel - sign on delivery, I will fax you a copy of the acceptance signature)
4)The store didn't fax through the invoice, so we can't pay you for stock we can assume didn't arrive (we shall fax you a copy of each invoice on despatch)
5) Invoices that are older than 9 months are on our old system, no longer operational, we can't pay as we don't have a recall system to check if payment has been made ( I'll fax you through the last 12 months of remittances advises your company sent to help you with that)
6) the one and only accounts payable clerk left in the company isn't in today. (I'll call tomorrow, the next day and the day after that)
7) You still need to supply the goods as a part of the supplier agreement (Sorry, according to our agreement called Terms & Conditions, any company with outstanding debts over 120 days has their account suspended or cancelled)
8) You will need to supply all stores with fixturing and models at a cost of $2,000 per store from your own pocket which will become a part of the BG assets. (Oh Hell No! we only lease the fixtures, therefore retain title of ownership, to companies that have their account in good order, unfortunately you don't)
The list goes on, but after the March purchase orders came through which we never sent, I stood my ground, kept patience in calling a hundred times a day, everyday until we finally got the last cent in June. I had to put my heart in a locked box safely out of reach, because it was interfering with my head. I had to make the decision purely as a business one, not a heartfelt one. My heart was grappling with the early years of start up and the then Babies Galore helping us in so many ways. My heart felt like a cheat if we stopped stocking the company. My head said to my heart "Get real, it's not them any more! and really reputation wise, no bugger in SA, WA, NT, Tas, Vic knows who they are anyway!". Those were the same words I said to all the other suppliers who rang us and asked what to do, whilst holding a truckload of purchase orders in their hand. No don't supply, unless you can safely afford to lose the money, go belly up, broke or bankrupt.
After the account cleared, we sent them a formal notice of infringement of trading terms, account had been cancelled, that we would no longer supply BG unless orders were prepaid. They didn't like that, as it also coincided with the warning from our team of lawyers shot in their direction.
Fortunately for all of us, the owners of Babies Galore, the Allegro group ran out of funding to have the clone products made, and with the knowledge that a class action would be made against them by a small army of suppliers and a savvy team of intrepid lawyers, they had ultimately fallen on their own sword.
Rule of thumbs
1) never allow a company to have more than 20% of your business sales, for each big company store have at least 3 independent stores as stockists.
2) never allow a debt to go over 30 days. Phone calls to later payers frequently will stop a precedent in habitual late payment. Those who will flaunt the rules will do so.
3) work with financially stressed stockists. A payment plan, albeit very small, will see the debt cleared and relations kept.
4) visit business forums and websites such as Flying Solo for networking and skill sharing.
5) Always have title ofownership of goods on all invoices as well as Terms & Conditions when supplying a company on credit terms.
6) Never be ashamed to ask for monies owing once a company has become overdue on their account, no matter who they are, afterall you are financing their operation.
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