5 Ways To Boost Your Business' Cash Flow
Houston Financial Strategies for Small Business Women
1. Reevaluate and fine-tune the pricing of your products. - Are you selling your products for too little? Could you be selling them for more?
You may be concerned that your sales will suffer if you raise your price too much, and that is always a possibility, but it’s best not to come to any preconceived conclusions without first testing and finding out what the market can bear. This is especially important when running an ecommerce business, where you have physical inventory you must first invest in.
2. Replace old equipment and inventory. - Old equipment takes up space and is inefficient, to boot. For example, print devices can quickly become outdated and incompatible with the latest technology.
With many companies moving from desktops to laptops, and laptops to mobile devices, the replacement process can be frustrating. Managing, maintaining and repairing multiple brands and models is costly, since each requires its own proprietary toner or ink cartridges. In addition, your team has to be trained in usage and maintenance on each new machine .
Leasing devices, therefore, can be cost-effective, since you’ll always have the latest technology available at your fingertips, and because newer devices are more power efficient.
3. Re-negotiate long-term contracts. - Do you have long-term contracts with suppliers and service providers? Most businesses make use of a variety of tools to keep their businesses running smoothly. Even small expenses can add up as you begin paying for dozens of subscriptions.
But there may be an opportunity to re-negotiate contracts with companies with whom you have an established rapport. If you know that you’re going to be keeping those companies on over the long haul, you can approach them with a new, more cost-efficient arrangement.
4. Create incentives for early payments and penalties for late payments. - For many businesses, invoicing is a painful process that sometimes requires a lot of back and forth. If you find it difficult to keep your clients accountable and loathe having to follow up when they’re late in paying, you may find it's time to implement an incentive and penalty program.
For instance, discounts could be applied to any account paid early or on time, and interest could be added to any invoice that has gone neglected for too long. These moves will encourage your customers or clients to get payments to you early, thus immediately improving your cash flow picture.
5. Improve your marketing. - Any improvements you can make to your business will ultimately lead to better cash flow. Marketing, in particular, is a key factor.
The reason is that improving marketing reduces your cost-per-lead, boosting the lifetime value of your customers and opening up untapped markets.
Source: Entrepreneur
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.
Houston Financial Strategies for Small Business Women.
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