Costly,Mistakes,Small,Business business, insurance 8 Costly Mistakes in Small Business - Part 2 of 2

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In this article we will continue discussing the remaining mistakes that most small business make.Not Getting Paid Fast Enough - You heard it, we're talking about cash flow. As long as you are actually making enough money to pay the bills, this problem can be solved, prevented or at least made to be not as bad as it could be. Here’s the deal:First off all, bill customers very promptly. It is very common for a small business to not have the procedures or systems in place to get invoices generated and out the door in a timely fashion (see the next segment for more). Again, this would seem unlikely since that’s the reason why we are doing the work- to get paid. But, it's not uncommon for the people responsible for billing to be too busy or unorganized, which prevents this from happening in a timely manner. The other factor to preventing an ongoing cash flow crunch is to set-up the quickest paying deals with clients and the slowest paying deals with vendors. Also, you should try not to pay your workers ore than twice a month. some people may certainly have a problem with this. But, if you have no choice but to pay weekly, then let them know when they're hired that their first week's check will be held back, basically giving you an extra week. It will help, I promise.The next part involves credit. If you can get a credit card for your business, do so. This allows for certain important things to be bought (that you can afford) that might come up during a cash flow crunch. Better yet, especially if you have no choice but to deal with 45+ day customer payments, do your best to get a company line of credit. This is a must if you plan on selling to the government or doing commercial service work. These types of entities typically have 60-90 day payment periods.Failure to Have Solid Systems and Procedures in Place- Too many procedures (known as “red tape”) is the reason why many people start their own business in the first place. Unfortunately, having no procedures and systems in place at all is not an alternative. Depending on the type of industry, business owners must come to a happy medium or chaos and the unknown will ensue. Some basic examples where procedures or systems are needed include billing, collections, payroll, hr (interviewing, hiring, vacations, benefits, job responsibilities, etc.Even a one person show needs to have some admin procedures in place. Having those procedures in place will help when dealing with things such as sub-contractors, etc. and maintaing control of their job for you. Without at least a watered down version of a system or procedure to do everyday work, you will be to blame for causing many major headaches as your company grows. I can’t emphasize how important this is for when you bring on new employees. I’m sure you heard this before, but I am also a big proponent of having an employee handbook even for one employee. It’s amazing the trouble people can cause business owners just because they allow you to pay them.Spreading Yourself Too Thin- This is a classic mistake made by every entrepreneur. The important thing is to relaize when you're at that point and begin to get someassistance. The solution here is to know your strengths and to be able see when you are not performing the duties that demand these skills. In your business, if you're the best sales person you can't get caught up in performing evryday operations. If you were to do that your sales would decrease and at some point you will not need to worry about everyday operations, because you won't have them. Think for a minute: Did you really start your own business to work 80+ hours per week?Not Hiring Help Soon Enough - Make sure to set goals s to when you need to hire people to assume certain tasks. Waiting too long to hiring help can hurt a business. Those individuals who usaully start are business are generally good at one end of the business. Your time should be spent on the area that you know the best. Until you can hire employees to do certain things such as marketing, etc. you can outsource them. You should not try to be something in your business that you are not. It will only hold you back.You should look for these types of problems in your business periodically, but usually at the end of each season, for example, is a great business interval to check and make sure these mistakes aren't being made. Take the time, or make the time, to fix these problems. If you don’t know how to reverse the problems, then get some help.