Cash Flow Resuscitation.
If you were asked, on the spot, how much money you have owing to you right now, and how much money you owe to creditors right now, how long would it take you to come up with the answer?
When cash flow turns to a trickle,
it’s time to unclog the arteries and get it pumping again.
It’s surprisingly common how many business owners fly by the seat of their pants, not keeping a close eye on their finances. Having a “fairly good idea” is really not enough. In fact, the difference between merely operating and actually succeeding could lie in a single invoice! Unfortunately, money is an uncomfortable subject for a lot of people. Yes, even business owners. And fear has an awful lot to do with how closely they guard their finances.
- “I don’t want to keep annoying my clients by reminding them about unpaid invoices. I know they’ll pay, eventually.”
- “I’d hate to send them a reminder only to find they’d just paid.”
- “The last thing I want is for a good client to think I don’t trust them.”
- “If I seem pushy, they might take their business elsewhere.”
It boggles the mind to think of the alternative, which somehow seems less uncomfortable…..
- “I’m going to have to pay these bills on my credit card until some invoice payments come in.”
- “I’ll ask the bank for a bigger overdraft to manage my cash flow.”
- “I’d better stop answering phones and emails while I have creditors after me.”
- “I’ll just get an extension on my payment terms and catch up when some clients pay me.”
Cash flow is not just a buzz term
Cash flow is the blood of the body that is your business. Unless money is coursing through your business’s veins – flowing in as well as flowing out – the heart and soul of your company will flat-line and that does nobody any good. Ultimately, the grander picture is that the economy suffers. It’s not just your business that you’re compromising when you allow fear to control your Accounts Receivable efforts; it’s all of those with whom you deal. You owe it to yourself and business in general to step up, make those calls, chase up overdue accounts and get the cash flow pumping again.