Small and medium sized businesses form the backbone of any economy. It is important for small businesses to thrive so that more employment is generated and the economy grows. The growth of small businesses must be encouraged which is the reason why we are providing some important financial tips in this article.
If your business has unexpected expenses to pay for, there are various ways in which you can tackle this situation. Careful planning, taking right decisions and applying for commercial finance at the right time is often the key to prevent problems from becoming bigger and disrupting the operations of your business.
Following are some financial tips for small businesses:
Collect Due Payments
For a business it is not just important to meet delivery deadlines but it is also important for them to ensure that their outstanding bills are cleared by their clients as and when they are due.
In case you have not received payments for the services your business has offered, you should follow up with your clients and ask them to make the necessary payments. If, however, there is an issue you need to address immediately, an invoice finance may suffice for your needs.
Check Other Expenses
Most businesses have expenses that they can curtail, especially when their finances are strained. These expenses can include unnecessary business trips, operation costs, maintaining a large inventory etc. By identifying such expenses and controlling them, you can manage to save more money and take constructive steps towards tackling financial losses.
Increase Sales
Increasing the sales of your product or service can be an effective way to pay unexpected bills. It can cover for the running costs of your phone number list, while you devise a method to regularise your cash flow.
However, it may be easier said than done. To increase sales you may have to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas such as special offers or innovative marketing campaigns which can increase your brand awareness and lead to a surge in your sales.
Request for Credit
Maintaining good relationships with your suppliers is extremely important for several reasons. As a result of good relationships, it can be possible for you to negotiate for friendly trading terms and extend credit limit. If your business is in the middle of a particularly difficult to handle financial crisis, you can request the suppliers for some amount of concession on the bills.
Depending on the relationship that you share with your suppliers you can request them to give you a grace period for paying the outstanding dues. This can lift off the burden from your business and give you time to come up with an effective strategy.
Prepare Beforehand
As a business owner, you should never wait for a situation to arise wherein you are faced with an expense that you hadn’t anticipated. It is advisable to think of various possibilities that could call for an emergency payment such as hiring extra staff. Buying new equipment or even tax bills. You should then create an emergency fund which should act as a buffer in times of financial crisis.
However, if it is too late to take the above precautions or your emergency fund falls short of the requirement, you can avail business credit to bring your business out of crisis. There are many alternative finance providers that may lend you some money to bring greater stability in your business.
Set Up a Retirement Fund
As a small business owner, whether it is drawing up detailed business plans or creating a budget which will make you manage your finances effectively, you are habituated to handling a lot of responsibility.
If you are ambitious enough to try to establish a foothold in this competitive business world, you must also be sensible enough to know that funding your retirement is going to be one of your responsibilities too. Unlike salaried employees, it is not compulsory for you to set aside a portion of your salary which will become a part of your pension fund.
Invest in Technology
In order to maintain the number one position in the business market, it is important that you need to understand all the terms related to your business and make wise investments in technology as it can help you manage your finances as a small business.
To keep records of your accounts and finances, it may be a better option to make use of online software. You must also consider establishing an online presence as it has the potential to attract more customers.
To be precise, you may need to use bookkeeping software for understanding your business’s financial position, developing budgets and also for paying taxes. It is a practice which even large scale businesses follow, except that they have accountants to look after these responsibilities.
Lease the Business Equipment
It can be challenging to start a small business and one of the most important decisions that you need to make is whether to purchase or lease equipment for your business entity. But one cannot deny the fact that leasing the equipment instead of purchasing it can help you to keep operational costs low.
The money that you save in these aspects can be utilised for better purposes in the future. The value of business equipment that you purchase is likely to depreciate in the future and therefore investing a lot of money is not advisable.
Consider Buying Insurance
Even though you may not like the idea of paying for insurance for your business entity, you need to realise that buying insurance may be a sensible thing to do. You may have to spend some time researching about your personal needs and what is the right course of action for your business, if you are looking to effectively manage your small business finances and build a profitable portfolio. The financial security which is necessary for those that depend on you, such as your children or parents, can be provided by insurance.
Small businesses can use these financial tips to cope with unexpected expenses and better manage their operations.
Infographic created by Clover, a payment processing company
