In the business world, there are of course winners and losers.
So that you can be one of the winners, it is important that you have a structure in place, a structure that hopefully started before you even put out the “open” sign whenever that was.
The most important part of that structure is of course having enough money to remain in business.
Yes, solid customer service is huge. If you’re more than a one-person show, hiring the right employees is critical too. The ability to market your business in the right places at the right times certainly can’t be overlooked either.
As important as all those requirements are, you really can’t push forward if your bank account is stuck on zero dollars over and over again.
Don’t let your business come up short; below, we will share ways you can secure cash flow sources that will keep it running on all cylinders.
Knowing How to Manage Your Money
For your business to have taken off, let alone survived all this time, how you have and will handle your financial needs can never be overlooked.
Among the important factors to remember:
- Handling cash – To start with, do you have enough money to not only buy business supplies, pay employee salaries (if applicable), and promote your brand on a regular basis? If you have to hesitate in thinking about any of those areas, the time may very well have come to admit you need some financial assistance. As you look to make sure your business has enough cash, keep in mind that your cash flow involves more than just having what some might call a rainy day fund. Given you never quite know how the economic climate will be from month to month, it is imperative that you are not put in a major financial hole at any point and time. Could your business survive if you ran into a prolonged period of sluggish sales? What if some usually reliant clients decided to take their business and go elsewhere? Lastly, what happens if you get a little too happy spending and then end up in a financial predicament? These are all things to be prepared for, things you can control to some degree by how you handle your cash, especially when times are good;
- Handling employees – For those business owners who are not running one-person operations, handling your employees the proper way means many things, including oversight over those spending your money. Whether it is for supplies, meeting with clients, marketing the company through a variety of mediums, always remind your employees to spend wisely. Part of this involves the proper business management on your part. While you do not have to manage every penny, do take the lead in making sure you are able to account for where dollars are going on a regular basis. Even though you may have an accounting person or persons overseeing the financial books, it is wise on your part to regular review them, looking for any potential red flags;
- Handling decisions – Finally, running a business means making decisions, some of which can certainly prove challenging at times. That said knowing when to grow your business, when to slow things down, when to take chances etc. will all come into play at times over the course of your business years. In looking at the overall economy and how your overall industry is doing, is now the time to get extra money and grow your brand? Is now the time to put the brakes on such ideas, waiting until after this year’s elections, hopefully then getting a better feeling for where the economy may head in 2017? Decisions will come your way literally each and every day as a business owner. Making the right calls will not always be easy, but they come with the territory.
The biggest challenge you will always have as a business leader is keeping your brand in the black, avoiding the red as much as possible.
The time to review things is not when your financial books appear to be taking on water.
Be a prudent money manager and do things right from the first day on.
In doing so, you lessen the odds your business will come up short again and again.