It's a new year but already I'm dealing with a lot of businesses facing a perennial problem: Cash flow. Or not enough of it.
Sometimes a business can be making a decent profit, on paper, but the bank account still looks a bit bleak. This is often because people aren't paying their bills on time — or the business has too many obligations elsewhere. There are a few things you can do.
If you're struggling to get people to pay what they owe, consider ways to make it easier.
If you give credit ask yourself why you should. It's not uncommon now for people to pay as they use services or pay entirely or partially up front.
This might mean looking at implementing things like a service plan, where you set up a regular, smaller monthly payment throughout the year in exchange for agreed services. This can also reduce the administration associated with invoicing.