The solution to a cash flow problem is often right at your fingertips. Fear and concern can keep us from piecing together answers that can make a significant difference. When cash-strapped clients call for a session, we turn over a few stones that are damming up their cash flow and often resolve the immediate problem with a few simple changes or action steps.
Some common oversights and mistakes made by business owners are directly related to a lack of confidence or self worth. Some are related to a fear of looking at, and understanding, their numbers and some are simply due to lack of experience or knowledge. If you identify with any of these roadblocks reach out to someone who can help so you can put yourself firmly in the driver’s seat. Here are a few ideas that might just get the cash flowing and profits moving.
Review your accounts receivable (AR) – Who owes you money? How long have these outstanding invoices been on the books and what are you doing to collect them? The longer you allow these invoices to remain unpaid the less chance you have of collecting on them. Small business owners are often afraid to “get too pushy” for fear of jeopardizing future business. Ask yourself if you really want to do business with someone who doesn’t value your services enough to pay you on a timely basis. Ask yourself if YOU value your services and how these outstanding invoices reflect on your own values. Remember, the efforts that you put into collections could be put toward marketing instead. But meanwhile, make some phone calls, send letters and, if necessary, have an attorney draft a letter for you and nudge the late pays into action.
Review your terms - What are the terms that you apply to your sales? Do your clients pay you upfront? Do they pay a portion in advance and have 30, 60 or 90 days to pay the balance? I once worked with a client who provided a service in the wedding industry. She collected 30% at the time the order was placed and the remaining balance on the wedding day. We changed her collection terms to 1/3rd upon booking, 1/3rd 30 days prior to the event and the 1/3rd on the day of the event. This simple adjustment really loosened things up for her and gave her a safety net.
Charge your worth – Okay, here’s the real issue for many soloists. Wow! I can’t count the times that I have heard people say they haven’t raised their fees in 10 years or that they feel sorry for people who can’t afford their services. There is nothing wrong with a little pro bono work, for sure, but please don’t end up in the poor house to compensate for someone else’s financial concerns. If you do offer a reduction in fees or product cost communicate the terms clearly and make sure it’s not to your own detriment. Also, do a little competitive analysis by researching services and products similar to yours to see what the going rates are. Do you hear yourself making excuses to support your decision to charge lower rates? If so, talk to your accountant, coach, mentor or advisory board to gain perspective. Unless you are submitting RFP’s for government contracts the lowest bid doesn’t always win. Re-evaluate your pricing and make sure you are valuing your services and products as much as you hope that your clients will.
Evaluate your expenses – Another common cash flow issue is created by excess spending. For example, do you have contractors that you send jobs to because you want to keep them happy? We know that outsourcing is a priority so that your time is free to build your business, but if this is done to excess during a low revenue point it can backfire. I often hear concerns like, “Janie has been doing work for me for years and I can’t cut down on her hours.” Yes, it’s difficult when you feel responsible for a portion of someone else’s income, but in the long run these temporary cuts will keep you in the black long enough to rebuild and move forward in a stronger position so that you can resume sending work their way.
In this down economy, some soloists are holding on to office space that may no longer be necessary. If you need to make cuts like this, look for the advantages and give yourself a timeframe to work within. If you have a plan that you believe will turn things around, schedule a date to reevaluate your spending. It’s easy to get caught up in the “what if’s” when we are making decisions like letting go of an office. What if things turn around? What if my clients find out? Make a list of your pros and cons and understand your financial limits. Removing the stress of added expenses will help you to focus more clearly on solutions and growing your business.
Where have you found money in your business? Is there anything you are procrastinating on? What solutions have worked for you? Share them here on Successful Soloist!
Submitted by Taylor Cottam of Economy Politics
Another Call For The Fed To Raise Rates, So Big Banks Can Start Lending And Hiring Again
As we explained in our previous article Seeking an interest rate solution,
real interest rates are negative and nominal short term interest rates
are near zero. That is not healthy. What is a healthy interest rate? My
view is that short term rates should be above 1% to make them positive
and closer to 2%. It has caused consumer credit to contract.
Of course, banks would argue that a healthy spread is the key to a
healthy banking sector. Raising the rate would likely flatten the yield
curve. What gives?
How banks really make money
Banks are not in the business of making loans per se. They are in the
business of making more off their assets than their liabilities. In
normal times, underwriting consumer and business loans are the best
avenue for them to pursue that goal.
Banks, and many hedge funds, really make money off the yield curve. They
have assets with a higher duration than their liabilities. Although
banks fund their assets with a mix of checking, demand deposits and some
longer dated term deposits (CDs), they have the ability to swap out
longer term deposits (CDs) to make their liabilities duration almost
zero. Their assets, which are typically loans to consumers and
businesses, have a longer duration. Since the yield curve almost always
slopes upward, they make money off the yield curve spread plus the
credit spread.
In 2008, I did some modeling for a large financial institution that had
duration of liabilities of roughly 3.5 years, based upon mostly term
deposits. They were able to bring the duration on their entire
liabilities portfolio down to a duration of less than 0.25 (3 months) by
transacting a simple fixed for floating amortizing swap based upon
their CD maturity schedule. Every quarter, with the 3 month rate sunk
below 25 bps, we would receive a large cash settlement from our
investment bank counterparty. I didn't stick for the full term of the
swap, but on a 1.5 BB principal, our estimate of earnings from the swap
alone stood at $100MM over three years. Based upon where short term
rates have stayed, they could have made 1.5 times that.
With our cost of capital below 25 bps, we did the thing that any
rational person would do. We stopped lending to people and
businesses and lent to the US government instead. We bought Treasuries.
In this case, the 5-year yields were above 2% bringing our expected
risk free spread above 2 points.
In 2008 and 2009, when it became obvious that Bernanke would likely
leave short-term rates low for an extended period of time, yield curve
risk became an afterthought. Those actions have been largely vindicated.
If we held the Treasuries for at least three years, the term of the
swap, we would just sit back and make money off the spread without
having to originate a single loan.
You get to be a bank, without having to do any work to originate loans.
Who needs a large origination group, when you can make a ton of money
and fire half of your employees?
Pushed or Pulled into Treasuries
During the recession there was often talk of a flight to quality.
Investors would flee risky assets and go into something safe. However,
investors are not always being pushed, they are often pulled. During the
recession, we began seeing a very steep yield curve. The spread
investors are as much lured by the allure of easy money with a steep
yield curve as they are by the fear of risky assets.
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