All Home Services entrepreneurs are navigating murky (and very treacherous ) waters! Frankly, working with stressed out homeowners has always been ‘challenging’.🙄 But today few things are more important than cash flow …
When you add in increasing competition, the brutal hiring crisis (especially the shortage of front-line technicians) AND the ongoing issues of an ever more chaotic world, PANIC can strike! Is it time to… ABANDON SHIP?😲 No! However…
As a prudent ‘captain’ you should be making disaster preparations now while constantly looking downstream at cash flow for both your business and your family. A good place to start?
Check the condition of your business (and personal) ‘life jackets’! For example…
5 Cash Flow Considerations
1. Increase cash. Money keeps a company and/or family breathing when cash flow dips. Do you personally have a routine savings/investment program? Are you funding tax-deferred retirement plans to their maximum limits? (I’m guessing you can use the money more wisely than Uncle Sam!)
2. Cut non-essential spending. A no-brainer, right? And yet few of us ever actually stop (or even reduce) our THOUGHTLESS, ‘frivolous’ spending! The subtle trap? ‘Buying stuff’ just feels so good!💖 (I feel a ‘Steve’s rant’ coming on that deserves it’s very own future blog post!) 🙄 Remember too that closely related to reducing non-essential spending is to…
3. Reduce (eliminate?) your consumer debt! Translated? STOP 🛑 putting ‘non-essential purchases’ on credit cards. Don’t let the cash flow unfettered through your hands. Please understand- I’m not against prudent borrowing. (During my 20+ years of owning a Home Front Services company my business borrowing dramatically accelerated our growth.) However…
NOTE: During our 46+ year marriage (other than for real estate and vehicle purchases) Sioux and I have NEVER incurred even ONE dollar of consumer debt. Translated? Instead of putting ‘discretionary purchases’ on our credit cards we paid cash😟 to buy furniture, TV’s, clothing, fishing rods, golf clubs, Coach purses, and/or for restaurant dining, vacations or happy hour at our favorite pub! UH-OH! I’m feeling yet another future ‘Steve’s rant’ brewing re: destructive Immediate Gratification Spending!😡
4. Increase your short-term business borrowing ability. Yes, I know. This seems counter-intuitive to my ‘reduce your debt’ reminder above. BUT my point #3 warning mostly refers to eliminating credit card debt for consumer goods! On the other hand, a line of credit for emergency funding can be a… well… a ‘life jacket’ to keep your business afloat! You say, “Steve, I don’t need to borrow money now.” Even better because…
HINT: Keep in mind the old banker’s adage: “The best time to borrow is when you don’t need the money!” So right now, while times are fairly good, is when you should arrange a business line of credit with your bank. Then a pre-approved credit line (just like a life preserver) will be very comforting if and when you and your business are struggling to stay afloat! (Most business lines of credit cost nothing if you don’t borrow from them.)
5. Build a better business team. With tough times ahead you’ll need ‘all hands on deck’! And you’ll want solid, reliable Very Best People manning the oars with you! This means…
You NEED: The 100’s of new hiring ideas and systems in our 3-hour, online SFS: Hiring the Very Best! LIVE seminar.💲💲💲 To learn more and/or easily register online click HERE. (My online classes fill early- don’t delay.)
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Let me know how I can help you and meanwhile… my very BEST WISHES!
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