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Summary: Without a steady cash flow, your business dies. Here's how to keep cash flowing when it's not.
Category: Small Business
Words: 650
Keep The Cash Flowing
Copyright © 2003 by Angela Booth
http://www.digital-e.biz/
Without a steady cash flow, your business dies. This means that you need to be focused on your cash flow situation at all times: you need to know how much cash you have and how much is coming in. If you can see that you're likely to have problems, time to take action is --- NOW.
This constant awareness of your finances is especially vital for creatives. Writers, artists and designers are in a unique situation. Not only are we creators, we're also marketers and salespeople. Combining these functions is so difficult that at times it feels as if it’s impossible. However, it can be done.
Whether you're starting your own business, or have been in business for a while, here are some ways to keep cash flowing when business is slow ---
=> Start your business with six months' worth of expenses
If you're going fulltime in your own business, you need a cushion. It's best to have at least six months' worth of expense money to keep you going. Then, when you've been in business for a year, always keep at least three months' worth of expense money in your account. Do whatever it takes to get that three months' cushion.
=> No cash? Moonlight until things improve
Business works in cycles. It's always either feast or famine. You either have more work than you can handle, or not enough. If you're going through a famine cycle --- and these can last for several months --- moonlight. There's a reason actors and actresses work as bartenders and taxi drivers. :-)
=> Consider working part-time for someone else
Just because business is slow at moment, it doesn’t mean that your business idea is terrible. To ease situation, take a part-time job. Although you'll be busier than you'd like to be, fact that you have money coming in regularly lets you relax, so that you can enjoy working in your business again.
