Tip 4

Be Prepared

Know what to say.

Most interviewers ask same standard questions about your strengths, weaknesses, former employers, work history. If you are being interviewed by several people, this might be a good cop, bad cop situation. Pay attention to who is playing bad cop, they are looking for signs of weakness and dishonesty. To be well prepared, before interview, write out all your accomplishments, both personal and professional. List your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest, it’s easier to remember truth than it is a lie. Extra Tip: Write out situations in which you have demonstrated: leadership skills, determination, stress management, creativity, and flexibility. Be prepared to answer question: Why do you want this job? If you’re not sure, reevaluate your decision. If you arrive a few minutes early, review what you wrote in waiting room before interview. Great list of interview questions: http://www.indiana.edu/~libpers/interview.html

Tip 5

Ask For The Job

You get what you ask for.

The most important step in interviewing process is one most people miss. ASK FOR THE JOB! Most interviewers are waiting for that closure. If you have done everything exceptionally well during interviewing process, but have not asked for job, you’ve just wasted an interview. Asking for job shows potential employer that you are assertive, confident and right for job. It might feel uncomfortable, but this is your only chance to ask for something you really want. Make sure your voice is firm and you make eye contact. Think of it as your closing argument, you’ve got to win over jury. You should also ask interviewer if he or she thinks you are right for job. Even if they tell you something unpleasant, think of it as a lesson learned. However, do yourself a favor and ask for job. You deserve it!

Strategy No. 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 clients whose invoices have been out 30 days and inquire about 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 healthcare industry, for example, are intentional. Prolonging turnaround for payment controls costs. In these cases, you don’t have any recourse. As any doctor can tell you, calling 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 No. 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 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 them. This way, you generate some cash for your business. You will, of course, incur lease payments.

Homework: Take stock of what you own. If you need capital, contact a few leasing companies and gauge their interest in purchasing equipment for you to lease back. Alternatively, a Certified Cash Flow Consultant will shop for you. Since they are independent consultants paid by leasing companies, you will avoid any additional charges.

Strategy No. 5: When In Doubt, Outsource Outsourcing certain support areas of your business, in which you are not an expert, is an excellent way to reduce payroll and insurance costs. You will spend a higher dollar per hour for importing experts, but reduced costs (no health or workers’ compensation insurance) usually compensate for cost variance. Be sure to hire these experts with as much diligence as you would any in-house employee. As you’ll typically retain this type of assistance through specialty staffing houses, interview individuals to be assigned. As integral members of your team, they must be as reliable as any employee on your payroll.

Homework: Contact area firms that provide kind of staffing you need. Compare cost of those contracts against cost of keeping these staff on payroll. Be careful: Consultants can get expensive, so be sure to build cost controls (i.e., fixed fee for a weekly basis or hourly with a “not to exceed” clause) into your contract. Be clear on their scope of work, to whom they report, and how you define satisfactory performance. In addition, you must directly approve any staff changes.

Strategy No. 6: Inventory When You Need It Inventory that sits in warehouse, not being sold for income, eats away at your available cash flow. It is an asset, sure, but it should not become a liability because it is not quickly converted to cash. Over-ordering of inventory gets many businesses into trouble.

Review your inventory forecast all time, and be aggressive. Know your options in times when you have shortfalls. Fulfilling customer orders on time is a number one priority, so don’t take unnecessary risks. If you simply hoard inventory to offset any chance of being caught off-guard, you lose potential profits made by managing it more aggressively.

Homework: Review your current and projected inventory for coming months. Do you need to make changes, or is it all under control? Make any necessary calls to your suppliers to negotiate better terms or better understand their supply controls.

Make Your Working Capital Work for You Working capital management is a key element to business success and number one way to prevent business failure. By implementing strategies such as accounts receivable funding, outsourcing, or inventory management, your business can optimize return on assets it already possesses. Your company will then be well positioned to handle future growth or economic downturns.

“Reprinted from Create Business Breakthrough You Want: Secrets and Strategies from World’s Greatest Mentors © 2004 Mission Publishing, a division of The Mission Marketing Mentors, Inc., www.missionpublishing.net, or www.missionmarketingmentors.com.”