Selling on credit is a major part of running small shops and service businesses in Uzbekistan. You extend credit to earn a customer's trust, and they stay loyal to you. But that's where the problems start: the debt never gets written down, the reminder gets forgotten, and a month later the customer can claim "I already paid." This article distills 7 golden rules gathered from working with more than 500 entrepreneurs.
Rule 1: Record every debt, even the smallest one
The biggest mistake is telling yourself "I'll write it down later." That "later" never comes. The customer leaves, you forget, and by evening you can't recall who owes what. The rule is simple: the moment a customer takes goods on credit, it gets recorded — right then. It takes 30 seconds, but it saves you millions down the road.
Writing it on paper works too, but paper gets lost, smudged, or ends up in the wash. That's why the modern solution is an app. Recording a debt in an app takes 10 seconds: pick the customer, enter the amount, done.
Rule 2: Set a clear deadline for every debt
"I'll pay it back sometime" is not a deadline. "In 3 days," "tomorrow morning," "next Friday" — those are deadlines. A debt without a clear deadline turns into an endlessly drawn-out awkwardness, and the customer ends up saying "you never told me."
A clear deadline is a form of respect — for both you and your customer. Think of it as a tool that prevents conflict before it starts.
When you set a deadline, work it out together with the customer. When is their payday? When is their next big cash inflow expected? A realistic deadline is one that actually gets met.
Rule 3: Turn on automatic reminders
You deal with dozens of customers a day. Remembering who owes what and when to follow up is too much for human memory to handle. This is where automation comes in.
Mafin tip: Send an automatic SMS to the customer 1 day before the deadline. Most customers pay back on their own once reminded — and you won't have to deal with awkward phone calls.
Rule 4: Don't lose the warmth in your communication
A debtor is not an enemy — they're a customer. Tone matters when you talk about what they owe. There's a huge difference between "Pay your debt back!" and "Your payment is due today — feel free to transfer whenever it's convenient."
Mafin comes with ready-made friendly templates. They're polite but firm — the customer won't be offended, but they will remember.
Rule 5: Set a debt limit
Don't extend a large debt to a new customer — that's the simple rule. Start with 100,000–200,000 so'm, and if they pay on time, raise the limit. For customers you fully trust, even 1 million+ is fine.
- New customer: up to 200,000 so'm
- Paid on time more than 3 times: up to 500,000 so'm
- Customer for more than 6 months: up to 1,000,000 so'm
- Especially trusted customers: case by case
Rule 6: Review your numbers once a month
Who pays on time? Who's late? Who has been late more than once? The answers to these questions are vital information for your business. Set aside 15 minutes on the first day of the month to review what happened over the previous month.
Rule 7: Document large debts
For any debt above 500,000 so'm, get a simple written note or a video confirmation of the debt. It's not red tape — it's protecting yourself. 99% of the time you'll never need that document, but in the remaining 1%, it can save you millions.
Conclusion
Managing debtors isn't an art — it's a system. When the system is built right, debts don't get lost, customers don't get upset, and you sleep soundly at night. These 7 rules are the foundation of that system.
Mafin was built to automate exactly these 7 rules. Start on the free plan, and you'll see results within a month.