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Answer You - What 80% of Businesses Don't Know: Tips for Improving Your Working Capital Management
Coastal Vacations has been in the market place for over 27 years, and has been selling travel packages for over 10 years as a home based business.Traditionally, to be a successful Coastal Vacations Director, you had to be good at selling and Many people are not comfortable or just don’t know how to sell.Paul Langley of Clear Business Solutions, LLC has created a call center that is the cream of the crop. The new business model is very appealing to current Coastal Directors and for anyone who is interested in starting a home based business in Coastal Vacations.The call center presents the business to the prospects, does the follow up, answers all the phone calls, closes the sales, and sends out checks to representatives next day air mail, for commissions no less than $1000.This is very exciting for most people because if you ask 100 people "Do you like selling ?" 95% of them will say No Way ! This is why Paul Langley has successfully expanded the call center by 40% to handle the new volume of calls for coastal vacations travel packages and representatives who want to market the vacation packages.Coastal Vacations representative, Dewey Sheats explained, "Th
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cas
The T-Mobile Sidekick is a unique cell phone that has a large color screen and full keyboard for text messaging, instant messaging, and web browsing. The Sidekick is one of the most popular cell phones in the U.S. with many teenagers and even celebrities choosing it as their favorite phone.The T-Mobile Sidekick gets slimmer with each new model. It currently is only 5.1 X 2.3 X 0.9 inches in size. It is one of the favorite phones for teenagers primarily because of its full keyboard which makes it easy for text messaging, web browsing, and instant messaging. It supports instant messaging for the following carriers: Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. It also is very popular because of its big color screen that makes watching movies and web browsing that much more enjoyable. The current Sidekick has Bluetooth technologies built in which is nice for using it hands free. Another cool feature of the T-Mobile Sidekick cell phone is the number of contacts that you can store. You can store over 2000 names and cell phone numbers in the Sidekick!I have never seen another phone that can store that many names and numbers. So if you have a lot of friends and family this phone is for you. You basically have a c
Although these are all essential aspects of business, the answer isn't any of the above. The number one way to prevent business failure is to properly manage your working capital.
To ensure that we're all on the same page, working capital is simply defined as the difference between your current assets and current liabilities. If this figure is positive, you have working capital available. This working capital may exist as inventory, accounts receivable, or cash on hand.
Working capital management is a critical management issue for growing businesses or medical practices. Take the example of a growing doctor's office: As expenses rise with patient-load increases, you accrue more outstanding cash, particularly before receiving reimbursement from the health insurance payors. At this point, your incoming cash does not nearly offset your costs going out. This may be manageable while you work with payments for past services; however, eventually the time lag may become a significant stress-point for your business.
By adopting a few working capital management strategies, you can make your assets work for you, without becoming beholden to banks.
Strategy #1: Get Paid Now
Let's take a look at the most obvious area: accounts receivable. What do your receivables do for you when they are not being paid? While your profit margins may look stellar if you have a lot of orders, you have essentially loaned all of your clients the amounts of your invoices-until they decide to pay you. Doctors, in particular, know the pain of this situation. Insurance payors are particularly adept at prolonging the time for payment; they realize that the longer they take to pay, the greater their profit margins.
Is this just another cost of doing business? Well, not necessarily. Eighty percent of small business owners, medical practitioners, and small hospitals are completely unaware of a resource Fortune 500 companies have used for decades: accounts receivable funding.
Banks often measure accounts receivable at as low as 50 percent of their overall value as collateral for a traditional loan. In accounts receivable funding, however, accounts receivable are calculated at full value. Plus, you accrue no debt for this financing, as you essentially sell your accounts receivable for payment against the full value.
Perhaps the idea of selling your revenue stream makes you nervous. But consider this: You usually receive 80 percent of the entire amount of the invoice within one or two days-at least 28 to 118 days sooner than usual. This cash injection allows you to make capital improvements for your business to generate more revenue, leverage the cash for discounts on your inventory, cover operating costs, or provide bonuses to your employees, for instance.
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cash
Okay, so maybe you’re not in the job of your dreams. Now what? How do you get by until your dream job shows up? Here are the top 5 ways to make the most of the job you have. And, who knows? If you do them all, you could wake up one day and realize you already are in the job of your dreams. 1. Know you are being paid what you deserve. There is nothing worse than the inkling that you are underpaid. Thoughts like these will make even a great job seem not so great. Find out what others with your title and experience are paid. Internet sites are great for this or a friend in compensation could help you out. 2. Develop a better relationship with your boss. Even it things are not currently so fabulous with your boss, make an effort to find out what he or she is all about: what are they concerned with on and off the job, how can you make them look good, what is important to them? If you have a good relationship with your boss, your work life will be so much easier. New opportunities can come your way and, if you have personal troubles, a concerned boss is priceless. 3. List all the reasons you like your job and post it where you can see it. working capital may exist as inventory, accounts receivable, or cash on hand.
Working capital management is a critical management issue for growing businesses or medical practices. Take the example of a growing doctor's office: As expenses rise with patient-load increases, you accrue more outstanding cash, particularly before receiving reimbursement from the health insurance payors. At this point, your incoming cash does not nearly offset your costs going out. This may be manageable while you work with payments for past services; however, eventually the time lag may become a significant stress-point for your business.
By adopting a few working capital management strategies, you can make your assets work for you, without becoming beholden to banks.
Strategy #1: Get Paid Now
Let's take a look at the most obvious area: accounts receivable. What do your receivables do for you when they are not being paid? While your profit margins may look stellar if you have a lot of orders, you have essentially loaned all of your clients the amounts of your invoices-until they decide to pay you. Doctors, in particular, know the pain of this situation. Insurance payors are particularly adept at prolonging the time for payment; they realize that the longer they take to pay, the greater their profit margins.
Is this just another cost of doing business? Well, not necessarily. Eighty percent of small business owners, medical practitioners, and small hospitals are completely unaware of a resource Fortune 500 companies have used for decades: accounts receivable funding.
Banks often measure accounts receivable at as low as 50 percent of their overall value as collateral for a traditional loan. In accounts receivable funding, however, accounts receivable are calculated at full value. Plus, you accrue no debt for this financing, as you essentially sell your accounts receivable for payment against the full value.
Perhaps the idea of selling your revenue stream makes you nervous. But consider this: You usually receive 80 percent of the entire amount of the invoice within one or two days-at least 28 to 118 days sooner than usual. This cash injection allows you to make capital improvements for your business to generate more revenue, leverage the cash for discounts on your inventory, cover operating costs, or provide bonuses to your employees, for instance.
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cas
"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." - Peter DruckerManaging is often equated with controls rather than leading and developing a business. The manager feels more comfortable and secure when they are able to put in strict controls on everything that happens in a business organization. This is so especially of Senior Managements where the controls and directing becomes so severe that it erodes any creative freedom for the middle managers to work towards achieving the goals set out for them.Here are a few simple prescriptions to get the best out of your managers.Avoid Centralizing Decision MakingThis is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve totals control. You feel by centralizing decision making you will be able to avoid wrong decisions. While this may be so to some extent who is to prevent your own wrong decisions. Unless your managers are able to make mistakes and learn from them you will never be able to develop expertise through experience. Centralizing decision making is also the surest method to kill your business growth.Provide Working SpaceThe top management often entrust tasks
Strategy #1: Get Paid Now
Let's take a look at the most obvious area: accounts receivable. What do your receivables do for you when they are not being paid? While your profit margins may look stellar if you have a lot of orders, you have essentially loaned all of your clients the amounts of your invoices-until they decide to pay you. Doctors, in particular, know the pain of this situation. Insurance payors are particularly adept at prolonging the time for payment; they realize that the longer they take to pay, the greater their profit margins.
Is this just another cost of doing business? Well, not necessarily. Eighty percent of small business owners, medical practitioners, and small hospitals are completely unaware of a resource Fortune 500 companies have used for decades: accounts receivable funding.
Banks often measure accounts receivable at as low as 50 percent of their overall value as collateral for a traditional loan. In accounts receivable funding, however, accounts receivable are calculated at full value. Plus, you accrue no debt for this financing, as you essentially sell your accounts receivable for payment against the full value.
Perhaps the idea of selling your revenue stream makes you nervous. But consider this: You usually receive 80 percent of the entire amount of the invoice within one or two days-at least 28 to 118 days sooner than usual. This cash injection allows you to make capital improvements for your business to generate more revenue, leverage the cash for discounts on your inventory, cover operating costs, or provide bonuses to your employees, for instance.
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cas
When you ask the right Joint Venture questions, you open the vault to riches. People like to talk about themselves, their goals and their problems. When we help them make their dreams come true and offer solutions for their problems, we all win and everyone makes money. Savvy Joint Venture Brokers know that it’s all about the right approach. Here are five powerful approaches that you can use, today, to make real money, real fast.1. What do I have to create, bring to you or offer you in order for you to write me a check for $2,000 per month / $10,000?2. What do you want, more than anything else, in your life and your business, and why?3. If I was to bring you business and customers that you don’t have and would not have had, what percentage of the gross sales would you offer me?4. If I could show you how to make money from your existing resources, with no cost or risk to yourself and without any time spent, would you share the resulting profits with me?5. If I could double the amount of people in your restaurant, given that you have a 32% food cost and all your overheads and fixed costs are already covered, would you pay me 20% of every bill I generated?If you help
Banks often measure accounts receivable at as low as 50 percent of their overall value as collateral for a traditional loan. In accounts receivable funding, however, accounts receivable are calculated at full value. Plus, you accrue no debt for this financing, as you essentially sell your accounts receivable for payment against the full value.
Perhaps the idea of selling your revenue stream makes you nervous. But consider this: You usually receive 80 percent of the entire amount of the invoice within one or two days-at least 28 to 118 days sooner than usual. This cash injection allows you to make capital improvements for your business to generate more revenue, leverage the cash for discounts on your inventory, cover operating costs, or provide bonuses to your employees, for instance.
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cas
This is one common complaint you can hear in the advertising industry. Having worked both sides of the fence, I can sympathize with the poor agencies who get knocked on the head, and I can empathize with the clients who see good money wasted on hapless campaigns.But since that statement is made “client side”, let me address it from there. Surprisingly, there are great agencies with fantastic creative teams that produce really shoddy work. How can this be? The same award winning team for XYZ Brand comes over to market your absolutely fabulous product and makes a boo-boo out of it.Now, all things being equal, it is unlikely that the team has consumed all their creativity and are now empty husks working on your account! I would like to propose one highly possible, and most likely cause for this strange phenomena.This is related to a little piece of paper which we often call an “Agency Brief” or as most Marketing Executives like to call it “my boss unreasonable demand that I stay up past midnight to finish this silly brief”. You see, the Executive thinks that the product is so well known, the company is so famous, the agency is so capable, there is nothing that needs to be said. Go for t
As your invoices are paid, your funder will repay the other 20 percent, minus the negotiated fee (average four to five percent of the invoiced amount). Don't get hung up on the 'cost' of the funding. With proper management of those funds, you will more than make up for fees by the investments made in your business. Your day-to-day business costs may stay the same, but the tremendous increase in incoming cash will enable you to rest easy.
Homework: Review your accounts receivable aging report. Note the average payment time from one of your best clients or insurance payors. Assuming payment of 80 percent of the invoice value in 48 hours, make a list of ways to use that money for your business:
- Cash discounts on inventory (estimate in dollar amounts).
- Buying or leasing new equipment (anticipated return in additional sales).
- New marketing campaign (anticipated additional revenue).
After you total the increased income generated by implementing this strategy, you can easily see the real benefit.
Strategy #2: Shorten Your Operating Cycle
Your operating cycle starts when you take cash out of your account to begin work for a client, and ends the day the client pays you. If you complete a project on Tuesday, for instance, but do not invoice until the following Friday-or even the end of the month-you lose days of income. Since you need the cash in your account-not just in your profit margins-you must minimize the time between service rendered and service invoiced.
Homework: Review how long you usually take to invoice a client. If that period of time exceeds a week, have your staff shorten that time. This adjustment will decrease the payment time by as much as 25 percent.
Strategy #3: Collect Past Due Accounts
Do you have a significant number of invoices out more than 60 days? If so, is your staff doing anything to shorten this timeframe? Call the clients whose invoices have been out 30 days and inquire about the invoice. Devoting a few hours a week to completing this task is money well spent if it ensures that even half of your outstanding invoices are paid a couple of weeks earlier.
Some delays in the healthcare industry, for example, are intentional. Prolonging the turnaround for payment controls costs. In these cases, you don't have any recourse. As any doctor can tell you, calling the insurance company to inquire about a claim can be a fruitless task.
Homework: Review your collections procedures and tighten up your ship, if needed. Assign one person to follow up on invoices outstanding for more than 30 days. Realize, though, that collections results fluctuate with your clients' priorities. Don't count on this as your only means of improving your cash flow.
Strategy #4: Turn Existing Equipment Into Cash
As we know, keeping current with technology improvements are constant and necessary to remain competitive. Leasing is a way to stay up-to-date without incurring the charges of frequently buying new equipment.
But have you ever considered leasing equipment that you already own? One option is selling your equipment to a leasing company, and leasing it back from the
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