Up until recently my clients paid their invoices timeously - in the last few months though I have found that payments come in later and later. As a small business outstanding debtors can be the kiss of death... so I think it's time to nip this in the bud before it becomes a serious problem.

Debt collection is a fine balancing act - you need to be firm without being downright ornery and potentially losing a valuable client.
I have one client - as it happens he is my very first client and I have of course got a special fondness for him because of this - but he is now pushing the envelope and affecting my cash flow to the point where I can't be 'nice' about this anymore - I am now considering going the debt collection route - before starting my own business I worked for a company that used a legal firm to do their collections, the debtors book was huge and the company turned over about a trillion rand more than I do now - so my question is where do I find a reputable collections firm that handle collections for us small guys? Not the leg breaking kind mind you.... as tempting as that is