SIX WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMPANY'S CASH FLOW (Source: www.msn.co.uk)

One of the challenges of running a small business is dealing with the feast-or-famine nature. I'm talking not just about the flow of business, but also the flow of cash into and out of business. Here are six ideas for improving your small business' cash flow:

1. Bill promptly.

Ever find yourself so busy building your business and making deadlines that you don't get around to billing on a regular basis? You're not alone. One contractor I know sometimes neglects to send out bills for small home-repair jobs until he approaches the deadline for employer tax payments and realizes he doesn't have the cash to cover the payments due. If you don't already have a system in place, start (or assign an employee to start) billing on a regular basis. When taking on longer-term projects or clients, negotiate in advance for regular payments instead of allowing the amount due to build up until completion of a contract.

2. Create Incentives for faster payment to you.

Small business can sometimes significantly cut the time spent waiting for payment by offering a discount for quick payment. I've received bills from businesses offering discounts of 1% or 2% for payment within 10 days. If I was going to pay the bill within 30 days anyway, I'm likely to fire out a cheque right away to get that little extra discount. Good for my bottom line; good for the business' cash flow, too.

3. Avoid slow pay/no pay customers from the start.

The best way to avoid cash-flow problems because of customers or businesses not paying you is to weed those slow pays/no pays out before they become clients.

So, if someone is about to become a significant client or customer, do your homework. Ask for and check-out credit references. Call other businesses that have had a relationship with the client.

4. Use barter instead of cash.

You could reduce the strain on your immediate cash if you need goods or services from someone and can barter goods or services of your own in return. Note: This is not a way of cutting any tax bills- you're still required to report the value of the barter transaction on your tax return.

5. Trim your inventory.

OK, so you can't go to a "just-in-time" inventory management systems like many manufacturers have adopted. How about "just-in-less-time"? Money spent on inventory is money that isn't producing any interest or savings for you. Sometimes reducing inventory can be pretty simple. I've seen restaurants cut back on the size of their wine cellars, focusing on quality wines from a few regions instead of trying to be all things to all diners. If the customer still has good choices, it may not even matter that he has fewer choices than before.

6. Consider consolidating your loans.

I know it's often tough for small businesses to borrow money. But I'm surprised at the number of ways entrepreneurs do manage to borrow. One small business owner I know has only one employee, but has four different loans related to his business: an equipment loan, a car loan, a business line of credit and a business credit card.

If you also have several loans related to your business, review the rates and terms on each one. You may be able to consolidate two or more loans into a lower-interest account and improve your cash flow. I'm generally not a fan of stretching out loan payments, but if you're thinking of talking to a lender about consolidating existing loans into a new loan, you might look at taking on a longer-term loan in exchange for lower monthly payments.

COMMON SALES MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM ...By Stephan Schiffman

Ask any successful salesman he will tell you that selling can be fulfiling, while to another selling is uninteresting and draining. The results they have commanded in sales must have formed the basis of their judgement. There are pitfalls in sales that must be avoided in order to see satisfactory results. Stephan Schiffman exposed the most common sales mistakes and how to avoid them:

1. Not being obsessed.

Maintain a commitment to work that encourages you to utilise everything at your disposal to get results. It is however important that you also love what you do enough to practice your obsession with discipline.

2. Not listening to the prospect.

Make your sales objective one targeted at helping the prospect to solve their unique set of problems and concerns. You must let the prospect speak about himself or herself and the information you receive as a result is invaluable.

3. Not empathizing with the prospect.

Make an effort to see things from the prospect's point of view. This will help you understand their problems and enable you make a better sale.

4. Seeing the prospect as an adversary.

See your prospect as a partner. You should strive to get the two of you working together to attain your goals and his goals. The prospect is not someone you have to outwit or outsmart. The best selling arises from win-win situation; you win if and only if the prospect wins.

5. Getting Distracted.

Giving the prospect all your attention will earn you his undivided attention. When you get distracted during a sale, you distract your prospect and thus throw the whole meeting into disarray thereby destroying the possibility of building an atmosphere of trust.

6. Not taking Notes.

Taking notes send a signal to the prospect that you are there to learn about their needs and this encourages them to volunteer information. It not only helps you keep the prospect's needs in mind, it also improves your presentation in the sense that it shows that you are professional, organised and in control.

7. Failing to follow up.

Keep your contact fresh by making minimal investment of time and care to assemble a short thank you note. A neat, courteous and professional follow-up letter keeps your line taut just as a brief typed note serves as a tactful, professional reminder that can reinforce the positive points of your visit. Treating current and prospective customers like professionals worthy of respect is always good business.

8. Not keeping in contact with past clients.

Help clients to keep you in mind. If they have used your product or service before, they are likely to come to a point where they will need it again and are in a position to refer you so, just keep in touch, one professional to another in a way that is not intrusive or unprofessional.

9. Not planning the day efficiently.

You must be seriously dedicated to getting the most out of your day and planning ahead on a daily basis goes a long way in achieving this. Your success or failure in committing yourself to a daily schedule will have an impact on your overall performance as a sales person.

10. Not looking your best.

Prospects remember people who walk in the door looking sharp, they make instant positive impression and win the respect of their clients in those first few seconds that happen to be very critical.

11. Not taking the prospect's point of view.

A prospect is more interested in the benefit of your product or service than its features. Isolate how your product or service helps people and its tangible advantages over the competition, so you can apply it to the prospect's needs.

12. Not taking Pride in your work.

If you do not take pride your product or service, and the organisation behind it, you will not be successful. You should be enthusiatic about what you do.

13. Trying to convince, rather than convey.

You have an objective of conveying value and benefit rather than convincing your client. You are not there to change his mind or convince him but to convey to him why and how you can help solve his problems.

14. Underestimating the prospect's intelligence.

You know so much about your product but lack information about the problems of your prospect. Since you are there to solve his problems, the knowledge he has is of great value to you too.

15. Not keeping up to date.

Knowledge is power. Making an effort to understand what is going on in their industry will help you gain a broader outlook to the whole environment. You know that if your customers do well, you will also do well. Keep your eyes and ears open.

16. Rushing the sale.

Let the sales progress gradually. You should not expect to deliver the first order on your first sales appointment.

17. Not using people proof.

Being able to cite another business in the same industry that has had success with your product or service reinforces positive inclinations toward your company.

18. Being Fooled by "Sure Things"

A little enthusiasm is healthy but you cannot afford to spend hours day dreaming about the big sale. No matter how good things are on the horizon, daydreaming can lead you to complacency and on to outright self deception where you make a big deal of potential sales that are not even promising.

19. Taking Rejection Personal.

You must learn that rejection is not a personal affront or a reflection on you, your product or your company but a part of the overall cycle inherent in any day's work.

20. Underestimating the importance of prospecting.

A solid commitment to prospecting which is a crucial stage in the development of new customers is one habit that is very likely to ensure sales success. Learn to always keep something in the pipeline.

21. Not showing competitive spirit.

You are in a competitive market and your victory lies in gaining and keeping satisfied

EXPLORING THE VIRTUES OF ‘CO-OPERATION’ IN THE WORKPLACE

Business leaders of even large organizations today talk co-operation but promote and encourage competition through their leadership style, body language and reward system. Over the years, business organizations have been made to believe that competition within the organization and among the employees is a good omen for business development.  A situation where one manager/employee’s success meant the failure of others is typical of competition. This flaw in paradigm is responsible for many invisible problems in the workplace today. I am not saying everything is wrong with competition; it has its own specific time and place if it is healthy.

In the words of Stephen.R.Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, ‘Interdependence is a higher value than Independence’. This statement displaces competition for co-operation (Collaboration) in the effective running of a business enterprise. The concept of competition adopted within a business organization has done more harm to businesses than good. It has ended up pitching many leaders against their peers in their own organization in a way that hurt the team and cast a shadow on the realization of the business’ corporate vision. Some individuals have already been scripted in the win/loose mentality from birth, when one child is being compared to the other and love and understanding is given or withdrawn on the basis of such comparison. When such individuals come into an organization where competition is celebrated they become a die-hard promoter of it both consciously and unconsciously.

The bane of effective interpersonal communication and building a great winning team is competition. Competition explains why an individual will put his interest first in a team ahead of that of the organization. It is what engenders strive among professional colleagues. It promotes single and limited thinking (My good Ideas) as against corporate (Shared) thinking through brainstorming. It excludes others. Competition can destroy the hope of an organization realizing its corporate vision, as individualism can never achieve what is called corporate.

A higher and more desirable value for effective organizational operation today is Co-operation (Collaboration). Co-operation which can also be referred to as a win/win mindset, constantly seeks mutual benefits in all human interactions. Co-operation in a business organization creates a platform where team members feel good about decisions and feel committed to the action plan. The co-operation/collaboration paradigm views life as a co-operative, and not a competitive arena. The co-operation strategy when promoted in an organization will help every team member understand that the success of one person is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.

Exploring the value of co-operation/collaboration for organizational success focuses on producing personal and organizational excellence in an entirely different way by developing information and reward systems which reinforced the value of co-operation. Rather than spur co-workers to compete with themselves in the same organization, co-operation breeds an atmosphere of trust required to effectively synergize different talents and skills to advance business goals.

Innovation thrives more on collaboration. Gone are the days when we used to think great ideas can only pop-up in some super individuals’ heads. All across the globe today, innovation comes alive and runs faster on the wheel of collaboration. Promoting co-operation in your organization will facilitate a win-win mindset among your people. Each one begins to think how the team wins, the teams think how the organization wins and the organization ensures that its people win in turn.

Developing a culture of co-operation in a business organization will enhance the focus of such organization to strive for or maintain an enviable leadership position in its industry. All internal forces and resources are easily marshaled to combat the uncontrollable external competition and threats.

The bottom line is this, the success of the whole organization is more important than any individual wins and relevance. Mind you, individuals are brought into the organization to help accomplish its vision, so nothing will help better than the co-operation strategy, a-joint-lifting of the organization to its dreamland.