When the food supplier acts as bank for clients

And lives in continuous urgency of last-minute requests

Do you recognize this situation?

• Raw materials supplier, significant revenue
• One-man show: only you, no one else
• "Acting as bank for clients" among exhausting situations
• Last-minute requests, always
• You want to grow but the model doesn't scale

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The trap of the supplier who finances

The business works.

Significant revenue.
Significant growth.
Clients: bakeries, pasta factories, restaurants.

But cash flow is a nightmare.

Client orders.
You deliver immediately.
Client pays: sixty days. Ninety. Sometimes more.

You act as bank.

You didn't choose it.
It's how the market works.
Standard payment terms.

And while you wait for client A to pay you:
You must pay YOUR supplier.
You must buy goods for client B.
You must manage inventory.

Result:
Significant revenue.
Liquidity on edge.

You're a bank without interest.

And then the urgencies.

"I need it tomorrow morning!"
You drop everything.
Organize immediate delivery.
Impossible to plan the week.

You live in reactive mode twenty-four hours a day.

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Why it happens

You built transactional business without differentiation.

Client needs flour, eggs, margarine.
Calls you or calls competitor.
Whoever responds first wins.

No recurring contracts.
No value-added services.
No premium clients who pay promptly.

You have spot orders and continuous urgencies.

The more you grow with this model,
the more you stress without proportional profit.

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The method

Segment by cash flow

Analyze clients.
Who pays within thirty days, who after ninety.
Who orders regularly, who calls last minute.

Top 20%: cultivate.
Bottom 20%: let go.

Prepaid recurring contracts

No longer "call me when you need it".
But "quarterly prepaid contract".
Guaranteed quantity, scheduled deliveries.

Client: fixed price, priority.
You: anticipated cash flow, zero urgencies.

Differentiated pricing for urgency

Standard order: base price.
Urgent order: significant surcharge.
Emergency order: even higher surcharge.

Client stops calling "urgent" when it's not.
When they call real urgent: you're compensated.

First assistant

One-man show doesn't scale.
Part-time assistant for administration and logistics.
You free time for recurring contract acquisition.

Focus on medium-large clients

Five medium clients worth more than fifty small ones.
Five contracts, five relationships.
Fifty clients: fifty emergencies.

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What changes after

You no longer act as bank.

Prepaid contracts: positive cash flow.
Client pays first, you deliver after.
Zero endless waiting.

You no longer live in urgency.

Recurring contracts: scheduled deliveries.
Urgency pricing: client thinks before calling.
Real urgencies: pay extra.

You're no longer alone.

Assistant manages operations.
You: strategy, acquisition, key clients.
No longer fifty-five hours on everything.
But forty hours on high value.

Sustainable growth.

Not from revenue X to revenue Y with fifty spot clients.
But with five medium clients on recurring contract.
Same increase, one-tenth the complexity.

And finally:

Work-life balance is no longer mirage.

Because predictable business equals plannable life.
No longer thinking about problems after visits.
But sleeping peacefully.

Physical well-being improves
when you stop living in continuous stress.

It's not about gym.
It's about healthy model.