Credit control is the lifeblood of business. Business survival depends on it. It is not illegal for you to allow customers to accept your goods or services on credit terms such as they may payafter 60 days from your bill. Since it is not illegal, lawyers should not advise you against supplying goods or services on credit because you might blame them if you lost customers.

If you do supply goods or services to your customers on credit, you should have full and accurate details of their names, Identity Card numbers or Company Registration numbers as well as an address where they can definitely be found. Get documentary proof of these details, such as Identity cards or, if it is a company, a copy of the company's registration certificate or printout from the Registry of Companies and Businesses. Make photocopies of these documents.

Ideally, you should get a cheque for part of the price of your goods or services, however small it may be. This is because the cheque contains the customer's bank account number, which you may take control of if the customer does not pay you and you have a judgment or court order or arbitrator's award for the customer to pay you.