The BIGG Successs Show
5 Places to Find Cash for Your Business Today
What to do when you need cash now. Read the show summary at biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll discuss five places to find cash for your business. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. I have a friend in business and her business is still building, but I'd say she's successful. Recently, she faced a cash crunch more severe than she'd ever faced before. Sales have been good, she's setting records in fact, but she was running out of cash. She was getting very discouraged. She said, "Man, I'm working harder than I ever have before, but it seems like I have nothing to show for it." She was almost ready to give up. Kind of at a loss as to what to do just overwhelmed by her situation. Quite frankly, she was scared. So what should she do about this? Well, here's what I suggested. Find the low hanging fruit. Well, I can't believe that she was considering giving up when she's had record sales. Well, you know, when you don't have money and you don't see it coming, it gets very discouraging. The reality was she had a whole lot of stuff going on. Okay, so the low hanging fruit. I guess you're thinking inside the fruit bowl here, George, with your advice. But yeah, you've got to think about all the places, prospects, and possibilities where you could get cash today. So spend your time today on things that are most likely to pay off today. And before we discuss where to find the money, let's just talk about five things that you really need to understand about this low hanging fruit strategy. Well, first of all, you've got to understand that this is probably not the best long term strategy. And matter of fact, this is a huge distraction for your long term strategy. But we're talking about survival here. So who cares? Survive today so you can thrive tomorrow. You've got to do it. And understand the perception that this can create with customers, employees, vendors, your investors. For example, if you're always giving a discount, customers come to expect a discount. And so, you know, they'll just sit back and wait for that next discount. So you've got to be careful with this. Yes, we're easily trained, right? Understand that if you're in this position frequently, it's probably a sign of a bigger problem. Now, if it happens occasionally, perhaps seasonally, that may be okay. Because even then, you should be able to plan for those occasions in advance. Yeah, and to really know that that's the issue, you have to understand your financials. What are they telling you? What can you do to prevent this from happening again? Is it a short-term problem? Or do you need to make some adjustment for the long term? For example, maybe you've got some costs that are getting a little out of whack. Out of whack! Everything's out of whack, George, when you're in business for yourself. Having said all that, you're going to need to get over any reluctance to cut special deals. You know, for example, sell inventory at cost, maybe below. Because if it's not moving at its current price, then it's not worth the current price. Just get over it. That's a good point, Marilyn. Yeah, mark it down, move it so you can move on and have the cash you need. And speaking of cash, coming up, we're going to discuss five places to find money today. Today, we're talking about five things you should understand about this strategy of looking for the low hanging fruit. And we promise we'd talk about five places to find cash for your business today. Number one, call people who owe you money, time to pay up people, see when they will commit to a payment, depending on the severity of your situation, you may even offer a discount for cash today. And number two, contact your customers. Now, the lowest hanging fruit is likely going to be people you've already made proposals to, or who you know are fairly far along in the sales cycle. Once again, if the situation dictates, offer them a discount for signing on the dotted line today and paying today. Number three, work your contacts for referrals. Who do they know that might do business with you? Tell them you've got a special deal right now and that you want to share this with as many people as possible. Number four, sell assets that you don't need any longer. They're costing you money just sitting around. This may include inventory, but also think about accounts receivable. If you have customers with good credit, you may be able to sell that receivable to a factoring company. Number five, borrow the money. This goes along with what you just said there in number four, George, but only here you're using your assets as collateral, not selling them. You have a short-term problem, get a short-term loan. And here's just a final tip, make sure that you don't look or act desperate. People don't like to do business with desperate people. They want to do business with successful people. So find a way to present this as their opportunity, not your problem. You can get a written summary of today's show at big success.com. We also have a related article titled How to Get Your Customers to Finance Your Business. You'll find that link on the blog as well. And let's get our big quote for the day. Rayleigh, no one claims this quote. There may be a reason. Here it is. Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money. And absence makes the heart grow stronger. And next time, we'll talk about six factors to help you succeed when opportunity knocks. Hey, someone's at the door. Who's there? Until then, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com [BLANK_AUDIO]