Are you one of those firms who are going fine in profits, doing well in market and still paying late for most of the expenses?
You are not the only one in the market, there are many scuffling against this concern.
In fact, 82% of start-ups and small business fail and exit due to poor cash flow management.
If not dealt the apt way, this poor cash flow management can asphyxiate your business in considerable time.
Pro Tips
Here are some of the things you can do:
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Speculate a complete and comprehended cash augury: Predictions and projections are a part of business. You are required to predict at some point of time and check in some time the gaps between the predictions and real outcomes. Here what you have to project the complete cash flow- Where the expenses are to be made, where the payments are expected and everything. This would assist you know before implementations the applications and expectations of cash.You have to do it with great care although. While making forecast, you have to be very particular and practical about all the expenses and incomes. Doing this would reduce the gaps and rectify the cash management proficiently. If you can’t do it, better hire professionals. There are many firms such as trilogy accounting that can do it for you.
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Lure your debtors to enhance cash collection: What all you can do to encourage payments by debtors? More often than not, your clients would pay you near the due date yet what would make them pay earlier than that. Following are some of the things you can give a fly:
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Grant some incentives to early payers: Don’t pressure yourself up with much amount of discount. A slight discount of 2% to 5% would pull the cash out of those who want to pay early. It is enough to drag from that section. You would collect a significant percentage of cash from this class of clients.
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Retainer basis is no troublesome: To work on retainer basis is never a traumatic condition for both sides. This works for the firms not dealing in physical products. Retainer basis involves one party paying other on hour basis and if the service provider pays more than settled hours, extra amount is paid. Whereas the amount dies for customer party when they work less than settled. The payments on retainer basis are made in advance.
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Let clients opt for credit cards: In this case only you would be charged with monthly fee and a tiny proportion of sale by the credit card provider but at least your cash would not be hoarded in hands of debtors till long and you won’t have to send monthly statements.
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Be payment flexible: Let them pay by any electronic mode such as PayPal or whatever they consider. These are a great method of bewitching them to pay early as they are even convenient to the buyers.
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Allow financial companies to intermediate: If you permit customers to pay with assistance of intermediaries, settle some and offer them. This would also cost you very little in face of time and reminders that traditional means of payments would bear to you.
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Accord your credit cycles to debit ones: Favor resolving payments as fast as you can. Don’t let your credit and debit cycles go unsynchronized. They must go hand in hand. If you have allowed a thirty days’ grace period to your customers, don’t be OK with contract of 15 days with creditors. This would surely get you in trouble as you won’t have that amount in hand when it falls due most of the time. Below are some of the things that you can do in regard:
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Renegotiate: Negotiate the amount of bill again when you are about to pay. Ask them to agree in less when the time due date falls. They may agree to that if they would want prompt payment.
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Ask for extension in time period: Make an offer to them telling to extend the time periods according to your debit cycles.
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Cut down on your expenses: Here come the most customary and no brainer term of the time. When you are low on cash, simply discourage the monthly or daily expenses. If you are paying for some premium services, settle in middle ground or just opt something economy and best. This would preserve cash in your hands and improve the cash flow.
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Wax cash inflow: What substitutes curbing the outflows? Increasing the inflows, for sure. Try stimulating more cash in your firms. You can do the following for that:
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Add to your prices: A notable amount would be negative sometimes hence try discreet amount and step ahead carefully. That would not burden your customers but uplift your cash inflows.
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Hold accountants responsible: Some loyal customers may get hurt due to these hence try to put it in account of accountants. Good accounting firms also recommend this. Many reputed accounting agencies would even support you in times.
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Train employees to upsell: Tell your sales person to attract customers in costly things. Give them a thorough training for it.
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Flash sale: Flash sales cost you less and accumulates you a huge amount money at the most peak time of need. This can be considered as an immediate measure of promoting inflow.
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Secure yourself with necessary measures: It is better to be safe than sorry. So it is better to be sure every time. You can go for the below mentioned things:
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Check credibility of customers before selling: If you are in B2B profile, better try to check the credit ratings or credit record of the firms.
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Don’t work more than you are already paid for: Secure your work with payments. Don’t prepare projects at high pace if you are being paid at lower.
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Spot and note credit related snags: Do it every moment you feel necessary. Whenever there happens some credit default or any attack to cash flow, try to jot that down so you don’t repeat in future.