Business Finances Can Be Tricky, But They Are The Key To Success

Improving your business’ cash flow is something that every business owner is striving to do.

Start simple and then allow your business to grow but your business can’t grow if it does not have access to the funds. So first off, here are the biggest tips that you can do in terms of looking at increasing your funding and being able to have more money to spend: 

1. Lease, Don’t Buy – This is cheaper and with less responsibilities. 
2. Offer Attractive Discounts for Early Payment – This way people will be less likely to want to pay you late if you can offer them something in return. 
3. Conduct Customer Credit Checks – If your clients are not good payers or they have been in financial difficulty then you don’t want to work with them as the chances are they will be doing the same thing to you. 
4. Form a Buying Cooperative
5. Improve Your Inventory – What are you selling and how can it be improved does it need to be cut down or do things need to be added? These are the questions you need to start asking. 
6. Invest in good applications – If you send money abroad or to any business then ensuring you go about it the right way is vital. Look into safe and cheap methods to improve your business outlook. 
7. Send Invoices Out Immediately – Don’t hesitate, because people will pay late. Some businesses are chasing invoices months down the line and this is counterproductive so get those invoices sent right away. 
8. Use Electronic Payments – This is great because it does the hard work for you and you will receive your money quickly. 
9. Pay Suppliers Less – Try and work on a budget and get a good deal. You should be able to do this if you have a long term deal awaiting. 

You can invest in anything that you choose if you have the funds but it is a good idea to make sure that the investment is something that is ong to benefit your company hugely. You will want to also be sure that you are putting enough money back into the company as a whole, to improve marketing and sales outcomes and just general better processes. 

Being profitable means earning enough money to cover all of your obligations. It also means that you can reap the rewards of this on a personal level. Becoming profitable should be the goal of every business even if your goals are smaller, you must still have them in order to grow. 

My company just isn’t making any money, but I don’t know why?

If you’re not pricing correctly from the outset, then you may hinder your business. You must always think of pricing with profitability in mind. It doesn’t matter how many sales you make because you will still only ever break even. It’s important to test the market and conduct great market research and look at your competitors and see what they’re charging. If it is significantly higher, then why? And more importantly, why aren’t you doing the same? Yes undercutting the competition is good but not to such a huge extent. It is best to attract the right customers. 

If you are worried that someone has copied your idea or stolen some part of your idea, then you can look into ways in which to sue them. However, if your product is not patented, or the design of it is not trademarked or copyrighted, then there is nothing to stop anyone from copying you and selling it as their own. Being sure of your business rights and having all the necessary precautions in place will assist. 

Should I think up some new ideas?

Yes. Always. You will need to put a lot of your money into marketing. Marketing is going to the best thing for your cash flow and improve your finances because it’s going to help you generate those sales and turn that into profit. So if you need some tips on marketing then you’re in the right place. So first of all you want to know your market and you want to know your industry inside out to the point that you can answer any question thrown at you. Then you will need to start implementing ideas in a creative way, in a way that others don’t often do or if it is something that has been done before, twist it to make it new and fun. You must also look at the following: 

1. Craft an elevator pitch – Always be ready to pitch ideas to people, because you don’t know when you will have the opportunity to speak about your business. 
2. Leverage your community – Know what they want and how to go about giving it to them. Any business is about giving people something that they want. 
3. Collaborate – Work with other brands and collaborate in a positive way. 
4. Network – Go to events, be social and get online. Improve your website and have it work for you so that people can see all the information that they need. 
5. Create buzz – Get people excited about your products and you can do this by using social media, getting creative with video and photography and spreading the word. Offer them something new and something that they may not expect.
6. Ask for referrals – This is great because you need to put yourself out there and have a return on this too. Building relationships is going to be vital because you want others to know who you are and spread the word about you without you even knowing.  

These plans take time and sometimes money to implement but they can be well worth it in terms of their return. So keep positive and review all ideas every few months to see what’s working. Don’t invest money into areas that aren’t paying you back. If it’s been six months and nothing’s changed, then cut it. It is never going to work. Be bold, be accurate and be positive and you will soon see the results you want.