Mabuzi owner Kevin Rack told ProPrint the five-staff firm enjoyed record turnover in January and then posted a new record in February.

The growth in business has been partly driven by a policy to seek payment before delivering proofs, which has improved cash flow and meant employees no longer have to waste time chasing money, he said.

“The policy change came about from having to watch one of my poor colleague’s end-of-month dreaded money-collecting phone calls. That’s probably one of the worst jobs in the world,” he said.

[Related: Who is responsible for credit chaos?]

“We are not a credit agency but a good quality service provider, and the policy change was easy to implement. One day [in 2009] we just changed the policy and we have only had two customers who did not agree with the terms.”

The firm “sets the expectation at the point of quoting” by making it clear to customers that they will have to pay before being issued proofs, said Rack.

Exceptions are made for multinationals and clients that place large orders, who only have to pay 50% in advance, he added.

Mabuzi’s record January and February came after near-record low trading in December, when the firm relocated from the Broadway Shopping Centre to a factory in Annandale.

The move from a retail site to an industrial complex was a strategic decision by Mabuzi, which has been training clients to place orders online since introducing a web-to-print system in 2010, he said.

[LinkedIn: Join our debate on whether the industry should stop operating on credit]

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