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Will You Add? - Avoiding a Financial Crisis - How to Keep Your Small Business Alive
I know we've heard this saying quite a bit when it comes to any type of business, especially Direct Sales. However, are you truly communicating with everyone you come in contact with?First off, let's break this down into the different ways we should be communicating.Potential Customers OnlineEmail can pile up quickly, but regardless it's important to take the time to reply to those who contact you about your business. Save the message boards, groups, newsletters, and funny forwards for later. At least until you've made sure you've properly replied to every personal message about your business.Potential Customers OfflineThis is very important especially at craft shows. Our sales have been outstanding even in the worst places due to actually talking to potential customers walking past. Just walking past they aren't going to see how beneficial soy wax candles are when they are just sitting on a table. So, we talk to them. We tell them everything about the candles and the scents, and ask them questions about their candle burning habits. We've sold many a tea
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so
Getting into the position easily as it may seem, setting goals early on and making realistic career moves and exhibiting correct attitudes are what makes a person eligible to win the race for the next career ladder and enter the realm of ultimate success, the ultimate position, that is, becoming CEO.However, CEO does not have to be working on somebody else’s company or being the head of large corporate suit divided into different branches, consisting of hundreds and thousands of employees.The term has evolved to mean a person working for himself alone catering to a specific class of people and working for them to satisfy their needs and offering them a range of products and services comparably similar to what other companies provide.Working for YourselfWorking for somebody is quite daunting. It requires a great amount of flexibility and patience. Flexibility is tested on several scales of work challenges. You are to meet some deadlines set to you by someone else and inability to subscribe to and meet them means failure.You may be able to deliver but some
So what can you do to ensure that all your hard work is not in vain? What can you do to make sure that a financial crisis doesn’t rock the boat or even sink it? Let’s take a look at what can cause these jolts and, more importantly, what you can do about it.
Poor Record Keeping and Administration
Business owners are usually not good record or bookkeepers! People who start businesses are the ones who have great ideas, see a gap in the market or have the personality to sell anything. They are not people who jump out of bed in the morning and say “Great, it’s a VAT and paperwork day today!” If you are to keep your business on the straight and narrow then you have to accept that there are going to days like this; you can’t avoid it. You must keep records of your sales, your purchases, how much you have, how much raw material or finished goods you hold.
Without these records you will very quickly lose track of where you are. You won’t know:
What you have spent your money on
You won’t know where your cash is going
You won’t know where all your stock is – has someone stolen it? Who knows?
You are effectively working in the dark and this is not conducive to financial stability. So what sort of records are we talking about? Nothing sophisticated. It can be as simple as a book with one page for your income and another for your expenditure. At least once a month total it all up to see how money you have made (I hope!). There’s a saying. ‘The people who keep records are the people who break records’ – so true.
Not Watching Your Bank Balance
Do you know exactly what your bank balance is today? Why is it important? Because if you are going to write a cheque you must know whether you have the money on your account. If you don’t that nasty Bank Manager may just bounce it.
Obviously this can have a negative effect on your reputation; your credit will be damaged and you may struggle to get support from your Bank and suppliers in the future. All because you didn’t check what your balance was.
To avoid this make sure you keep a running total in a cash book of what you have on your account. Why not sign up for Internet Banking? These days all the High Street Banks make this facility available, so there is no excuse for losing track of where you stand.
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so t
In a Previous article I discussed 6 things I could do that would improve my sales effectiveness and double or even triple my income. This article will discuss which items I chose to concentrate on and why.The 6 steps I talked about were1 - Set more Appointments. 2 – Sit on more appointments. 3 – Do more drive bys? 4 – Get better at getting referrals from existing customers. 5 – Get more sales from existing customers. 6 - Improve my close ratio.The key is to look at each of the above items and determine the amount of effort required to improve and then see the resulting change that the improvement brings in terms of increased sales. As a commission only salesperson the only way to improve your income is to sell more. The 2 best ways to sell more are to get in front of more people and to close a higher percentage of the people you get in front of. One could argue a 3rd way would be to sell more to each person you get in front of.I am currently averaging about 17 sales a month. My Closing ratio I think is right around 50% (I do
Business owners are usually not good record or bookkeepers! People who start businesses are the ones who have great ideas, see a gap in the market or have the personality to sell anything. They are not people who jump out of bed in the morning and say “Great, it’s a VAT and paperwork day today!” If you are to keep your business on the straight and narrow then you have to accept that there are going to days like this; you can’t avoid it. You must keep records of your sales, your purchases, how much you have, how much raw material or finished goods you hold.
Without these records you will very quickly lose track of where you are. You won’t know:
What you have spent your money on
You won’t know where your cash is going
You won’t know where all your stock is – has someone stolen it? Who knows?
You are effectively working in the dark and this is not conducive to financial stability. So what sort of records are we talking about? Nothing sophisticated. It can be as simple as a book with one page for your income and another for your expenditure. At least once a month total it all up to see how money you have made (I hope!). There’s a saying. ‘The people who keep records are the people who break records’ – so true.
Not Watching Your Bank Balance
Do you know exactly what your bank balance is today? Why is it important? Because if you are going to write a cheque you must know whether you have the money on your account. If you don’t that nasty Bank Manager may just bounce it.
Obviously this can have a negative effect on your reputation; your credit will be damaged and you may struggle to get support from your Bank and suppliers in the future. All because you didn’t check what your balance was.
To avoid this make sure you keep a running total in a cash book of what you have on your account. Why not sign up for Internet Banking? These days all the High Street Banks make this facility available, so there is no excuse for losing track of where you stand.
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so
There are several ways to make money online. One of them being Google's Adsense program. This program allows you to place ads on your sites and make money when someone clicks on those ads. Well there are just as many ways to make money with Adsense are there are ways to make money online, but in this article, I want to give you a down and dirty plan that will have you making money with Google Adsense in no time.First, you'll need to find a software program that will allow you to do detailed keyword research. You'll need to find a keyword that has a high cost per click average. There are many software programs online that will allow you to do this. Just do a search on any search engine to find them. Some of these will cost a few hundred dollars but your income from Google Adsense should cover that in no time.Once you have found your keyword, you'll just need to create one article around that keyword. You'll need to make sure that your content totally focuses on this one keyword though. The reason being is that keyword will make high paying Adsense ads show up on your site. Th
What you have spent your money on
You won’t know where your cash is going
You won’t know where all your stock is – has someone stolen it? Who knows?
You are effectively working in the dark and this is not conducive to financial stability. So what sort of records are we talking about? Nothing sophisticated. It can be as simple as a book with one page for your income and another for your expenditure. At least once a month total it all up to see how money you have made (I hope!). There’s a saying. ‘The people who keep records are the people who break records’ – so true.
Not Watching Your Bank Balance
Do you know exactly what your bank balance is today? Why is it important? Because if you are going to write a cheque you must know whether you have the money on your account. If you don’t that nasty Bank Manager may just bounce it.
Obviously this can have a negative effect on your reputation; your credit will be damaged and you may struggle to get support from your Bank and suppliers in the future. All because you didn’t check what your balance was.
To avoid this make sure you keep a running total in a cash book of what you have on your account. Why not sign up for Internet Banking? These days all the High Street Banks make this facility available, so there is no excuse for losing track of where you stand.
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so
You can possibly teach a turkey to climb a tree – but it is a lot easier to hire a squirrel. Quality staffing means selecting the right people with the right skills for the right jobs and at the right time. A good hire can take the weight of the world off your shoulders. A poor one can eat up your time and energy and weaken an entire team. So, why do so many leaders place so many people in so many wrong places? Here are five key reasons.Failure to prepare. When leaders are so busy dealing with multiple issues everyday, they may not have the time to do the front-end homework that is required. Find the time because bad staffing decisions can be costly in terms of your time and your money.Failure to identify success factors. You must go beyond the job description. Make a list of the qualities to be successful in the job. It could be two or three or it could be 10. Then go out and find people who have a giftedness to match those qualities.Failure to evaluate correctly the person’s skills. If the position requires someone who is det
Not Watching Your Bank Balance
Do you know exactly what your bank balance is today? Why is it important? Because if you are going to write a cheque you must know whether you have the money on your account. If you don’t that nasty Bank Manager may just bounce it.
Obviously this can have a negative effect on your reputation; your credit will be damaged and you may struggle to get support from your Bank and suppliers in the future. All because you didn’t check what your balance was.
To avoid this make sure you keep a running total in a cash book of what you have on your account. Why not sign up for Internet Banking? These days all the High Street Banks make this facility available, so there is no excuse for losing track of where you stand.
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so
Good Content: The Key To Search Engine RankingWhat drives visitors to your website and keeps them there? Good content.Content is KeyGood content is key to website promotion success. All the bells and whistles in the world will not hold an audience like compelling information. Ask yourself: Why would a visitor stay at my website? What are they looking for? What do I have that they need? What holds them there once I've got them visiting? You have to tell your story in a way that will keep your visitors interested and coming back for more.Get Those VisitorsThe first part of the process is getting visitors to your site through search engine promotion and other traditional marketing methods. As you increase your visibility, more visitors will come to see what the commotion is all about.Keep Those VisitorsThe second part of the process is keeping them there. If you provide quality information that is easy to access, you are giving the visitor what they are looking for. Don't give your visitors a reason to click away. Q
Poor Cash and Credit Management
Closely linked to keeping an eye on your Bank balance is how you handle your cash flow. There are 3 aspects to this.
1. Don’t be tempted to keep too much at your home or on your business premises. You could lose it to thieves, fire or flood.
2. If you are doing ‘business-to-business’ sales then you may be faced with having to sell on credit. If so then be disciplined in chasing up any outstanding payments. You can’t afford to be embarrassed about asking for a cheque. If you have agreed 1 month credit, why wait for 3 months? Chase as hard as you can because remember you have your own debts to pay!
3. You may be lucky to have a period of credit granted by the people you buy from. If they give you one month’s credit, then stick to it. If you decide to hold onto your bills before paying you may be faced with a Solicitor’s letter. Don’t ignore the problem and hope the phone calls will go away - they won’t!
No Cost Controls
To keep yourself in a strong financial position shop around for purchases you have to make. Compare prices and specifications. Have an upper limit beyond which you will not pay. Always be on the lookout for a good deal.
Spending On the Wrong Things
Running your own business can be a very powerful feeling! You may be tempted to spend on anything but the business – a new car, flash clothes, a new kitchen. Well, you have to look the part don’t you?
During the early years and even when you are established make sure you spend your hard earned cash on the right things. The trappings of success may not be right at this stage of your business life. Your business, in order for it to grow, needs cash. Remove the cash and you remove the life blood which keeps your business alive.
You have to be disciplined in your expenditure and ask yourself the question, ‘Will this cost add anything to my business?’. Don’t act on impulse; go away and think about every large expenditure. If the answer to the question is no, then you should think twice about spending.
Failing To Make Cuts in Time
Failing to make the necessary cuts to ensure the survival of your business is something you cannot afford to do. If you spot you have a problem do something about it! Don’t sit back and hope things will get better; the chances are it won’t. If you have product or service which is not performing and it’s costing you money don’t try and dress it up – be ruthless and cut it out. Make your decision quickly; don’t hang about. Not acting fast will only compound the problem.
Depending On a Small Number of Customers
Having a small number of customers is not a problem when everything is going well, but if one or two leave you or fail to pay up on time, then this can cause problems. If you depend on 3 customers and one of th
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