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On Avoiding A Cash-Flow Crisis

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On any given day, a Freelancer or small business owner might find him/herself in the suffocating grip of a possibly game-changing marketplace challenge. Anything from flood-producing rains to a wily competitor can cause customers to vanish and profit margins to shrink. It’s a nightmare scenario and, obviously, you must do whatever possible to avoid the problem. Stepping up your marketing with a clever campaign and catchy message, to nurture customer relationships and promote your brand, may be an effective response but be aware that money has a role that goes beyond the well known advantage of being a defense against disaster. 

An effective defensive strategy is about more than simply having enough money to outrun your problem. The key to handling money is to treat it as an asset and take steps to manage your cash by following its flow through your business. Do that by studying your sales revenues and accounts receivables, that is, money that flows into your business and also your accounts payable, meaning, the money spent on business expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll and inventory. 

The benefits of vigilant cash-flow management practices are not to be underestimated. According to 2023 data produced by Minneapolis, MN based U.S. Bank, poor cash management and insufficient cash-flow are implicated in 82% of business failures. Poor cash-flow shows its teeth in several ways, including:

  • Cash-flow gaps A cash-flow gap is a frightening emergency that occurs when a business pays expenses, for example, inventory or supplies, but does not receive the expected inflow of money within a reasonable time-frame. A shortfall is a warning that the business needs more cash, in a hurry. Maybe you’re waiting for a customer or two to pay invoices? Consistently expanding cash-flow gaps undermine working capital that can leave your business strapped financially, potentially putting it in a dangerous position if not addressed.
  • Managing seasonal revenue fluctuations  Seasonal businesses frequently face significant cash-flow challenges. A typical example is that of restaurants that operate in summer resort locations. During the peak season of Memorial Day (last week in May) through Labor Day (first week in September), these restaurants welcome an endless stream of customers, who pack the premises and overwhelm staff. Revenues are robust while the peak season lasts but in the off-season, greatly diminished revenues can trigger cash-flow gaps that cause the business struggle to maintain financial stability.
  • Opportunities beyond reach Expecting the unexpected, being agile and ready to act, is among the most valuable leadership qualities of a business owner, whether it’s the owner of a neighborhood dry cleaner to the CEO of a multi-national conglomerate. A business needs to be in a strong financial position to take advantage of interesting opportunities as they arise, whether that’s buying out a competitor, opening a new location, or launching a new product—the ability to act quickly usually makes all the difference. Without sufficient available cash, your growth and expansion plans will be hobbled, causing you to miss the boat on potentially lucrative opportunities.

Loans and credit cards are not the only options

When looking to resolve a cash shortfall, many business owners think of contacting their bank to discuss options for a business loan or credit card. Your business banker is there to support you in many ways but finding a solution to your cash crunch might more logically begin with your bookkeeper or accountant. S/he may not warm to the idea of you taking on debt associated with a loan or an increased line of credit; s/he may be more inclined to recommend that you become more vigilant about your entity’s cash management and make a modest investment in a cash management software package instead.

The power of cash management: cash-flow and forecasting

The purpose of cash management is to ensure that your business is able to pay expenses (accounts payable). Cash-flow management tracks how much money enters the business bank account—e.g., through sales revenue, accounts receivable payments, interest from investments—and leaves the business bank account for accounts payable. Cash management procedures position your business to both monitor expenses (and minimize or eliminate unnecessary expenses), make prudent financial decisions and, hallelujah, create and maintain a healthy cash reserve that will insulate your business from the financial instability. You’ll get your financial house in order and attain the means to pursue business opportunities that can further enhance financial stability.

Cash management software works by shining a light on money problems so that you can take corrective action in a hurry. Cash management software enables the user (you and/or your bookkeeper) to quickly and accurately monitor, analyze and pinpoint cash-flow problems. So, persistently late payments of customer invoices that cripple business cash-flow will be brought to your attention and signal that steps to speed up accounts receivables should be taken. Other cash-flow optimization benefits will likewise be made clear from the data that emerges from your cash management software, including the ability to accurately determine the amount of cash needed to cover accounts payable obligations and create a reasonable forecast of your entity’s future financial health.

Good cash management software will also have cash-flow forecasting capabilities to help you manage cash in the future, by creating “what-if” scenarios that let you evaluate various potential outcomes simultaneously. You’ll also be able to calculate expenses and ensure there is enough incoming cash to pay up. The best cash-flow management software will also have cash-flow forecasting capabilities to help you manage cash in the future and make the future of your business entity bright. Click link to learn how you can get started. https://www.trustradius.com/cash-flow-management

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Mother Counting Money, by Johann Georg Mayer von Bremen (Germany, 1813-1886)

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Smart Choices and Good Decisions

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When you face a big decision whose outcome may significantly impact your business or life, what steps do you take, what routine do you follow, to help yourself do the right thing? Big decisions, especially, involve consequences and their after-effect can reverberate over the long-term. The decisions you make, delay, or avoid shape the path of your personal and/or professional life and for that reason, the ability to make effective decisions is a survival skill.

Business owners and leaders are called upon to make many decisions; most are routine, and some are high stakes, positioned to have significant impact on the direction and/or fate of the venture. It is therefore worthwhile to do whatever possible to develop skills and practices that support your decision-making proficiency. Below are practices that, unlike the whims of fortune, are within your control and can guide you along the path to decision-making success.

1. See the big picture

As you get ready to make the decision, be clear about what you expect the preferred outcome will mean for you and/or the business. Good decisions require awareness; the decision-making process fares best when you are attentive to the context in which it will be made, meaning key internal and external factors that can assist or impede your ability to choose the right path. Influencing factors are likely to include the competitive and economic climate in which your venture operates and in larger organizations, the level of support that stakeholders have for the initiative you are trying to advance.

2. Review desired outcomes

“Begin with the end in mind,” advises Stephen Covey, author of the phenomenal bestselling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). Your decision-making process has a better chance of seeing a happy ending when the decision is motivated by a realistic purpose that you can clearly articulate and defend. It is essential that you understand what you want to achieve and why. It is also useful to decide the criteria you’ll use to define success. Before you commit to a decision, create a mental picture of what your company (or life) will look like once that proposed choice is in place—in the near term and 12 months later.

3. Consider different perspectives

Escape the trap of your inherent biases and invite different opinions to the decision-making. Start with the obvious—stakeholders and end-users who will live with the outcomes, along with those who will implement the decision. If you have a team, include its members in the process, for they surely bring to the table expertise and experiences that will enrich your understanding of the big picture, as well as factors that could influence its outcome. The unique viewpoints and wisdom of your team could possibly show you that don’t know what you don’t know!

4. Leverage relevant data and technology

In today’s digital age, there is every reason to turn to technology-supplied data to provide trustworthy insights that are grounded in objective information to guide your business decisions. Data-driven decisions are usually the most successful. You may have a history of making good decisions based on what your gut tells you, but you’ll be better served to allow (relevant) numbers to validate the power of your intuition.

There are numerous analytic values readily available to provide snapshots of company performance that decision-makers need to see. Your decision may benefit from a review and analysis of the number of qualified leads per month, industry benchmarks, annual sales of your products and services and/or the average dollar amount of new contracts signed per quarter.

5. Avoid analysis paralysis

While good data is essential, as is objective thinking and keeping the purpose of the decision in mind, it’s also important to realize when you have sufficient facts and figures to commit to a choice. It often makes sense to set a reasonable time frame for gathering information, and once you have enough in hand to make an informed choice, move forward.

Trust your judgment and remember that in most cases, all the information you’d like to have will not be available; nearly every decision is haunted by unknown factors. Boost your confidence by creating conditions that will promote effective decision-making when you align your decision with the vision, mission, guiding principles (values) and brand of your organization.

6. Overcome fear of failure

Risk is a factor in every decision because results are not always predictable. Along with good information, luck, timing and intuition are often credited with a decision’s success or failure. All leaders understand that unfortunately, not every decision will lead to a favorable outcome.

Instead of fearing failure, embrace it as a valuable learning experience when it occurs. Do a postmortem and analyze what went wrong; identify the root causes and determine how you can avoid similar pitfalls in the future. When the experience is applied correctly, failure strengthens resourcefulness and resilience and over time will eventually enhance your decision-making skills. A decision gone wrong is embarrassing and disappointing but push yourself to make lemonade from the lemons. You might find a way to fail-up!

7. Practice decision-making consistency

Consistency in decision-making is key to building trust and credibility among your team. If your choices waver based on mood or circumstance, it can create confusion and erode confidence. But you may instead find it helpful to revisit the same, or similar, criteria that were used for a decision whose outcome was especially positive.

If the approach you took, factors you considered and certain friends and mentors you consulted led to a successful outcome previously, those factors, adjusted to fit the question at hand, might be successfully applied to future decisions. Why not experiment? When you’re next faced with a big decision, apply some or all of the criteria you used to approach the question, choose and study the data and seek input from friends or family who have a history of giving you wise advice?

You may discover that it’s useful to evaluate, say, three to five qualifying questions first, then another three to five questions that are customized for your decision? A decision-making protocol that considers the same factors each time will bring objectivity, standardization and reliability to your priorities and judgment and help you avoid getting swept up in the emotional reactions of either reckless enthusiasm or panic.

8. Hone intuition through experience

Decision-making is often considered both an art and a science. It’s a competency that goes beyond algorithms and spreadsheets — it’s about accepting risk and seeking wisdom from data, lived experience, good advice and intuition. Furthermore, learning to recognize when it might be the most advantageous time to make a certain decision is another plus—- when you have the luxury of choosing the time to act, that is.

By adopting a big-picture perspective, leveraging diverse viewpoints and integrating data-driven insights, you will improve your decision-making skills. As you gain experience, your subconscious mind will develop a sense of pattern recognition, meaning you’ll remember what works and so you’ll do it again. Use this intuitive sense to guide you when data is unavailable or inconclusive.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Chess Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson (Colombia born, represents Sweden)) vs. International Master Espen Lie of Norway (R) in Malaga Spain, 2008

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Business Failure: Autopsy and Recovery

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Failure and setbacks in a business venture can take many forms, from a botched new product or service launch, to cash-flow insufficiency, losing the lease on the perfect storefront or office location, to the appearance of an aggressive new competitor. Business failure is painful and humiliating.

Even if the pre-launch planning and start-up capital are inadequate, significant research and planning and usually a large sum of money (that may have been borrowed) are nevertheless invested with the hopeful intention of bringing a new product, service, or company to life. If things don’t pan out, it’s inevitable that those involved feel crushed and demoralized.

The intricacies of launching and operating a business can cause any venture to falter, even if the founder is not directly responsible for the downfall. The many moving parts of a new venture can cause the founder to overlook essential factors, resulting in a failed launch.

Yet, in some cases,  it’s possible to recover and relaunch after an autopsy has been performed and you and your team (if there is one!) have figured out why things unraveled and how to avoid that problem and maybe others, too, in a second attempt. Common stumbling blocks include insufficient operating capital, an ill- conceived business model, an inadequate assessment of what target customers value and improper pricing.

Many Freelancers and entrepreneurs, after allowing themselves to grieve the loss, are able to move forward with determination and a better plan (and additional resources, most likely) to do much better in the next iteration. Take a look at these common causes of business failure and make note of the lessons to learn:

Unanticipated start-up costs and low sales revenue

Whether you self-financed and bootstrapped your business or borrowed from a bank or investors, you can find yourself in financial quicksand if your projections of start-up costs were underestimated and expectations for customer acquisition were blue-sky optimistic. It’s very easy to rack up big credit card debt and then succumb to panic that leads to making reckless decisions, such as second- mortgaging your home or borrowing from friends and family, as you struggle to successfully launch and create adequate business revenue. Unfortunately, you might find yourself unable to repay as expenses mount and customers are slow to arrive.

THE LESSON IS, do your homework. Thoroughly research the amount of money that will be required to launch your new business, or new product/ service, and make a rational plan for how to acquire the funds, whether you go to the bank, self-finance, ask to borrow from selected family and friends, or take on partners.

Regarding target customers, your first task is to figure out who will buy what you propose to sell, whether products or services. Is there a viable and growing market? Moreover, can you access those prospective customers, something that can be a challenge in the B2B sector.  Realistic financial projections will protect you, especially a Break-Even Analysis, which helps you predict when customer sales can be expected to pull into profit-making territory.

Finally, develop a profit-making business model. You must anticipate the start-up costs, be able to access the targeted customers, you must have the right method of delivering the products or services and pricing must be acceptable to the customers and profitable for the company.

Receivables collection problem

“They’d take sometimes 3 – 4 months to pay and it was killing my cash flow,” she said. “I couldn’t pay my suppliers without difficulty. (The company) refused to pay with a credit card. I was trying to get paid.” Lara O’Connor Hodgson, Co-Founder of the NOWaccount

As counter-intuitive as it seems, a business owner can have orders flying out the door and be totally broke. The problem, as described above by Lara O’Connor Hodgson, is that customers can be slow pay and the difficulty in collecting accounts receivable has put many businesses under.

THE LESSON IS, healthy cash-flow is essential to sustaining a viable business. Investigate the NOWaccount, which guarantees that invoices will be paid on time and in full (both you and the customer must have good credit). Those in a service business (me!) are advised to ask clients who contract to pay a project fee for an assignment to pay 15 % – 20 % of the total fee at the contract signing and link additional payments to project milestones or specific dates (at 30 day intervals, for example). The final payment owed should be no more than 25 % – 35 % of the total fee. In this way, you will receive regular infusions of cash and be much less vulnerable to a payment default by ghosting.

Powerful competitor

Facing a big new competitor is scary, but take a couple of deep breaths and take heart. If you’ve been in business for at least a year and managed to attract customers and deliver your products and services adequately, then you have a chance to hang on and continue with a growth trajectory. Just don’t panic; shift your adrenaline to market analysis instead. In reality, your competitor probably does not offer better quality products or services but rather has resources (like a generous advertising budget) that your organization lacks.

THE LESSON IS to 1.) analyze your competitor’s operation and determine the obstacles you need to overcome or what you need to do differently, i.e. smarter; 2.) refresh your customer knowledge to learn how their expectations and concerns may have changed to make them susceptible to switching their business to the competition; and 3.) avoid competing on price, which is usually an unwise strategy for smaller operations.

Larger companies have more money to work with and that allows them to hire more employees, offer a wider range of products and services, roll-out splashy marketing campaigns, stock more inventory and more flavors or colors and also offer lower prices because they can afford to buy in volume from the wholesalers.

Your defense is to brand your business well and customers reasons to think twice about opting for the competitor. Because no two businesses are alike, you must define for current and prospective customers why they’ll do better by doing business with you.

The heart of branding is defining and constantly communicating a company’s unique selling points, so you must 1.) understand the competition’s unique selling points and 2.) learn to clearly define and articulate your organization’s unique selling points so that you can build on the attributes that set your company apart and potentially make you valuable to customers.

When you understand your competition’s unique selling points and update your customer knowledge to learn as many specifics as possible about what resonates with them, at least theoretically, about the competitor’s unique selling points, you’ll see how to tweak your offerings in ways that reflect your company’s “house style.”

New and small businesses should definitely put an emphasis on excellent customer service. The digital revolution has not meant that customer interactions aren’t essential, even though face-to-face communication has become more limited for many.  To the contrary, customer service is even more vital in today’s business world.  Present a customer first attitude and create a pleasing customer experience. Go the extra mile to surprise and delight and your business will quickly become trusted and loved.

If you have employees, you also want to ensure you are the best employer in the industry. Having motivated and skilled staff will provide benefits for your customers and that will translate into benefits for your ability to successfully compete.

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs have suffered the frustrating experience of a business failure. For Scott Adams, creator of the world-famous Dilbert cartoons, life’s path wound through many jobs, failed startups, useless patents he applied for and countless other indignities. In his memoir, Adams shares lessons learned about keeping himself motivated, healthy and happy while racking up the failures that ultimately led to his success.

“It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”  Bill Gates, Co-Founder and former Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood (1891 – 1942 Anamosa, Iowa, USA) courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting depicts an Iowa farmer and his daughter.

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Fixing Your Epic Fail

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You’ve got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run.   “The Gambler”, written by Don Schlitz and made famous by singer Kenny Rogers

The Horatio Alger story remains the ultimate creation myth of the United States. Start out penniless.  Be clever, ambitious and ready to work very hard.  Recognize opportunities that others ignore.  Have the courage to take risks.  Summon the self-confidence and determination to stay the course in the face of disappointment.  Succeed wildly.  Make millions of dollars.

The most admired American heroes are the success stories, the big money makers. Paul Allen and Bill Gates, college drop-outs who pulled all-nighters to build Microsoft.  Madam C.J. Walker, a widowed young mother and one-time laundress who in 1906 created a hair care product in one of her wash tubs, out-maneuvered endemic sexism and racism, and became America’s first female and first non-white self-made millionaire (her line is now at Sephora).  Madam Builds an Empire

Striving is the template for life in this country.  Never give up.  Just do it.   However, quiet as it’s kept, certain dreams simply will not pan out because they cannot.  Some ventures are ill-conceived.  Some are very good, but the resources to launch them are not available.  For others, the timing is wrong and one either misses the market, or is too far ahead of the curve and prospective customers do not yet have the desire for the product (or service).  In these instances the smartest action is, sadly, to scrap the dream and walk away.  It is so painful, humiliating, even un-American.  Success is our brand and the whole world knows it.

One of the biggest questions we will encounter as we build a life is, when do you hold on tight to your dream and keep pushing forward through rejection and disappointment and continue to invest time, passion and money into an idea that might be doomed (or not) and when do you give up?

Failure, at some point, is inevitable.  It is demoralizing and damaging, if only to the ego.  It undermines self-confidence.  Repeated failure unravels and destroys a life.

According to behavioral psychologist James Clear, who studies and writes about performance and creativity, failure can be classified in three categories:

  1. Failure of tactics
  2. Failure of strategy
  3. Failure of vision

Clear categorizes Failure of Tactics as Stage 1 and identifies it as HOW mistakes are made.  According to Clear, Stage 1 Failure occurs as a result of poor planning, preparation, or execution.  The Vision may be sound and the chosen Stategy reasonable, but operations issues bring it all crashing down.  His remedy for Stage 1 Failure is to:

  • Examine the process of product and service delivery (service packages, sales distribution, quality control and customer service, usually)
  • Identify system failures in the sales process/ buying process as articulated by customers and employees.
  • Adjust systems and practices that impede an efficient and desirable customer experience and employee efficacy and morale

Stage 2 Failure results from a Failure of Strategy and Clear calls these WHAT mistakes. Stage 2 Failure occurs when the chosen strategy is unable to deliver the desired results.  Since there is no way to know in advance which of your presumed reasonable products, services, or proposals will succeed until there is a beta test, Clear recommends that after due diligence has been done, roll it out and monitor the progress.  His remedy for Stage 2 Failure is:

  • Launch the beta test quickly
  • Do it cheaply
  • Revise rapidly

Throw it up against the wall and see what sticks. If your strategy isn’t doing the job, have Plan B ready and give your concept another try.  Keep costs low to minimize the financial strain of do-overs.  Ideas are meant to be tested, it’s all about trail and error.

A Failure of Vision constitutes Stage 3 Failure and it reveals the most basic reasons of WHY the plan failed. In this scenario, the purpose for taking the action was poorly understood.  Was there no measurement of demand for the product, service, or action taken? Did you overestimate access to target customers? Did you not acknowledge that you’d rather not commit the time and money necessary to build the business or carry out the initiative?

Some of us fail because we get pressured into taking certain actions by those whose motive is to continue a tradition or to exert control.  In these scenarios,  actions are taken to follow the expectations of others, rather than one’s own priorities and preferences.

For example, the brother of a good friend, because he was the only son, was expected to take over his father’s highly successful business.  But according to my friend, her brother was not cut out to run a large and complex business.  He lacked the necessary drive. Unsurprisingly, her brother eventually crashed the business.  Their father spent more than a million dollars trying to bail out his son, but the business went bankrupt.

If you’ve done your homework and can be reasonably confident that your vision is sound and you’re willing to invest your time and money testing Stage 2 issues (launch strategy) and perfecting any Stage 1 challenges (operational glitches), then ignore those who would dissuade you to abandon your vision.  Maybe you’ll never be wildly successful, but if you feel compelled to do what you can to realize your dream, then carry on! Avoid Stage 3 Failure in this way:

  • Determine your priorities and purpose and be clear about what you’re willing to do to make it a reality
  • Identify and stand by those parts of your dream that are non-negotiable
  • Accept that there may be naysayers

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Bouncing Back from Adversity

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Every once in a while things fall into place,  our wishes come true and the seeds we plant bear fruit.   But inevitably,  we’re bound to get stung by a territorial hornet.   The strategic plan and common sense precautions fail to produce the expected results.  Adversity strikes and the garden falls apart.

 Maybe you lose your biggest client to a wily or better-connected competitor.   Maybe demand for your services suddenly diminishes.  You’re devastated and depressed,  insulted even,   and feeling like a truck ran over you.  You’re frightened and wonder how the bills will be paid. 

 Nadine Thompson,   founder and CEO of Soul Purpose,   a New Hampshire based direct sales company that produces organic beauty products,   knows this crushing experience intimately.   In 1999,   Thompson founded the herbal beauty care company Warm Spirit.   The company gained national recognition,   was featured in Oprah Winfrey’s O  Magazine,   counted actress Diane Keaton among its celebrity endorsers and had over $16 million in annual sales. 

But  in 2007,    Thompson lost Warm Spirit in a hostile takeover that was precipitated by a power struggle over business strategy with a partner who was providing significant financing.   To her horror,   she realized that not only was she not an equal partner in the business with this financial investor and his partner,   but  she didn’t own even a single share of the company that she created and nurtured.

Shattered,   yet determined to re-group,   Thompson pulled herself together enough to realize her own complicity in the demise.   Obviously,   she neglected to perform basic due diligence and have her attorney and accountant parse the documents and explain to her the full impact of what she was doing when bringing on the  investors.   As a result,   she unwittingly signed away her company in exchange for additional financing.

Fortunately,   Thompson possessed enough clout to quickly secure  financing for a new venture and she was able to launch Soul Purpose in 2008,   less than two years after the takeover of Warm Spirit.   Of her experiences,  Thompson says   “I believe more than ever that entrepreneurship is a journey…..Successful entrepreneurs are those who are able to learn from challenges and use resilience to bounce back from perceived failures.”   Thompson reveals lessons she learned:

1.   Entrepreneurship by definition involves risk.  Accept that.

2.   Opportunities for growth are often disguised as failures.

3.    Intuition is a gift.  Do not ignore it.

4.   Learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them.

5.    When criticized,  hear it with a  “grain of salt”,  but always ask yourself what truth or opportunity for growth is embedded within.

6.   Work not just hard,  but smart.

7.   Allow yourself time to rest and recharge your batteries.

8.   Have faith in yourself and your vision.

 

Thanks for reading,

Kim