Common Cash Flow Problems and How to Remedy Them

By: ActionCOACH Team

Are you experiencing troubles with maintaining a consistent cash flow in your business? If you are, you may find that you can’t cannot pay your bills on time, and expenses are fast getting out of hand. Cash flow problems plague every small business owner at one point or another – it’s natural to go through the occasional rough patch. However, that doesn’t mean that these rough spots can’t leave lasting damage on your finances. To avoid letting these problems ruin you, here are few ways of improving your net cash flow.

Accept Credit Cards From Customers

You do not have to be a retailer to accept credit cards. Many small business owners make this mistake, and it can potentially cost you a lot of business. Consumers use credit cards to make a variety of purchases, and a lot of them don’t carry cash on them. When they use a credit card to pay for things, you will typically get the money in two to three days. While this can seem like a bit of drag at first, it will quickly remedy itself as the cash flows from these transactions pour in.

Catch Credit Faults Earlier

Keep a check on aging accounts from existing customers. Do not wait until they have been delinquent for six months – by that point, you’ll likely never get that money from them. If you have not received a payment by the next billing cycle, send out late notices. If you have not received a payment from a company that usually pays on time, call them to find out if there is any problem with the service you are providing or the order. While many cases of delinquent payments result from negligence, this is not always the case!

Raise Your Prices

When you first started out, you may have kept the prices of your products or services low to build up a customer base. However, as the business matures and you build up a steady stream of customers, it many come time to raise your prices. You will want to be careful about doing this – if you lose more business than what you get from raising your prices, then you’ll actually lose money in the long run. But done right, you can easily increase your cash flows this way.

Get Pay Advances

Do not start working without pay. Ask for at least one-third of your total pay if you are working on a long-term project. This is not unreasonable in most industries, and your client should not have an issue paying this. Be especially persistent about this if it’s with a new client; it will be difficult to collect if you don’t know the customer well. If the business gets defensive about paying a minority of the total fee up front, that can often serve as a red flag.

Reason #1: Different styles and methods of business coaching don't work for everyone

It's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Every individual brings their own experiences and values to the coaching dynamic, so results will vary. Additionally, some individuals might need more than just a coach. They might also need specialised knowledge or communication strategies specific to their industry or target audience. Below are a few key factors to consider:

Reason #2: There is no clear focus or vision (talk about time dedication here too)

cIt's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Business coaching is an effective tool for developing a clearer focus and vision for growing your business. A good coach will help you to take a comprehensive look at your strengths, weaknesses, and available resources that can be used to reach those goals. They will also help you draw up action plans with step-by-step instructions to get there.

By providing honest feedback and being patient throughout the process, a business coach can make sure that you’re on the right track. This will enable you to set realistic milestones and tasks.

These tasks may need dedicated time outside of coaching sessions. For example, a coach might help a client develop a marketing strategy or implement new systems for managing employees. However, if the client does not have enough time to devote to these tasks outside of coaching sessions, progress will likely stall.

Both the coach and the client must have enough time available to reflect on past experiences, brainstorm new solutions, and test out different strategies. If either party is rushed or distracted during coaching sessions due to other commitments or obligations, they may struggle to fully engage in this process.

Effective business coaching also requires a commitment to regular meetings and ongoing communication. If either the coach or the client does not have enough time to dedicate to these meetings, progress may be slow or nonexistent.

It's important to recognise that business coaching is an ongoing process that takes time to yield results. While some clients may see improvements after just a few sessions with their coach. Others may need months or even years of consistent effort before they begin seeing real changes in their businesses.

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