Business owners frequently cite money as their biggest cause of stress. And with 33 percent of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) finding they are owed more than ten times their cash balance, this is not surprising.

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Outstanding debt is a major problem for businesses: when the debtors are based overseas, recovering the money can be even more difficult, in some cases forcing businesses to cease trading.

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Giles Goodman, CEO at Payfor, says that he feels his customers’ pain when it comes to debt; he founded international debt collection firm, Payfor following his own experience being owed money by an overseas customer;

“When the company's on the other side of the world, you feel there's really nothing you can do about it. I reached out to a debt collection business to help me recover that amount, but 2 months later they gave up, actually, their partner overseas had given up. I subsequently realised how little actual priority was given to my debt - because of the broken down communication chain between partners”.

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Clearly, business as usual in the debt collection world needed to change. Giles took his experience and put it at the heart of the Payfor mission:

“Our core value and belief is that companies deserve to be paid on time.”

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To achieve this, Payfor - unlike other companies in the same space - does not rely on partners in different territories around the world. Instead, the company collects directly from the debtor regardless of the location.  Payfor analyse contracts, invoices and other sources in order to determine the specific recovery strategy. The team then issues a 30 day chase campaign via email and phone calls. Finally, if the claim has not been recovered, Payfor can also contact law firms in any jurisdiction worldwide to issue a legal recovery process.

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“We go the extra mile for our clients,” says Giles, “especially SMEs because we know their pain, we understand what it feels like to be in the position of feeling like you are an underdog.”

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In short, Payfor is a one stop solution for SMEs, deploying a centralised model of communication, working with law firms worldwide. They have successfully recovered amounts ranging between £5k - £500k and regularly processing claims of over £10m.  Thanks to their experience and understanding across numerous jurisdictions and unique approach, this often puts Payfor in a far stronger possession to collect the debt than the client would on their own.

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Results speak for themselves, as Payfor has successfully recovered debts from the Middle East, Latin and North America, throughout-Asia and Europe.  Giles explains that geography isn’t the challenge and that the key factor is always “jurisdiction” and that the legal remedy is always the “guiding logic”.

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While Giles is passionate about supporting SMEs, he does not act alone; recently joining the company’s leadership is Paolo Zanini, CEO at TBD Media Group. Paolo liked what he saw when he became a Payfor client:

“We had a working relationship with Payfor for two years prior to actually investing into the company. During that time, I was able to see firsthand just how successful and efficient both Giles and the Payfor team were in being able to provide liquidity into our business. We actually increased the amount of money that was in our bank account by about 50 percent within the first three months - a huge increase compared to our internal accounts receivable team. On the strength of our experience, I thought we have to work with Payfor.”

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Giles says that Paolo’s offer came at the right time:

“Paolo has years of experience of marketing and commercial know-how, and the momentum of how we both work is very similar.  He is bringing growth and innovation to the company and really helping drive it forward with his trademark charisma”.

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For Paolo, the relationship feels like a natural fit:

“We found there's a huge synergy when we started working together. That's been instrumental in growing Payfor to what it is now and also to the way that we work with our clients to solve their debt problems.”

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The future looks good for the company and its customers, as Giles says:

“While you’re growing and scaling your business, you don't need the hassle of recovering outstanding payments from around the world. Ultimately, Payfor is here to remove that hassle and pain. If you focus on your growth, we will support that and help you have the strong cash flow required to build your company and be successful. I know what it’s like to be one of those businesses who are owed large amounts of money. It’s stressful and makes you feel like you're on your own. Today I can say this: you're not alone.”

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