When it comes to small-business money problems, it's often not the sales volume that's an issue -- it's the cash flow.
Money simply isn't there at the time when you need it to pay bills. It straggles in next week or next month, or even next quarter. You end up borrowing to keep the business afloat until those late payments finally turn up. This raises expenses, and causes more cash-flow problems.
How can you escape the cash-flow trap? Here are seven tips from John Formento Jr., an analyst with the business-information firm Sageworks -- plus a few of my own.
- Monitor accounts receivable. Do you know whose bills are overdue right away? ... Read more