How To Avoid Being Eaten Alive By Your Bad Cash Flow
In olden days our ancestors had to cope with the elements, find shelter and stay out of the claws of wild animals that would rip one of their legs off for a snack.
But in today’s business jungles, entrepreneurs have something much more ferocious to cope with – Cash Flow!
Business picks up – you are working all hours, money is coming in, you rejoice and continue working hard and long hours.
And at some point, you just have to get bigger premises, improve client interfacing systems, and of course you need to get staff to help out. Then one day, out of the blue, you have a look at the company bank statement – and you ask yourself, “Where is all the money?”
My business has grown, I employ staff, I have vehicles, it is apparently going well… But where is all the money?…And you watch your would-be empire starting to trip over itself.
And you get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
The same feeling your ancestors had as they were being dragged underwater by a crocodile…
Because cash flow is your life blood.
Take your eye off that ball and you stand a very good chance of getting yourself killed.
Guaranteed.
So how do you avoid this unnecessary – and almost unnoticed – killing?
The same way your ancestors kept out of the clutches of crocodiles – KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE CROCODILE – All The Time!
Unless an expense actually contributes towards generating money – then CUT it!
Unless you can actually measure the contribution – then it probably is NOT contributing.
Get rid of it.
Immediately.
Think.
Question yourself.
Who says you HAVE to spend this money?
Have a serious look at how you spend your advertising money.
If you are unable to measure EXACTLY how much business each method of advertising generates – then how do you know it is worth it?
Measure it – and if it does not pay for itself many times over – then stop it.
If you tell me that word of mouth is your best form of getting new customers, then my question to you is:
How Much Do You Spend On Word Of Mouth?
If you say “Nothing” – Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?
If that is your most effective method, could you not figure out some way of promoting/ rewarding word of mouth with the money you spend on ineffective advertising methods?
- One side of the coin is to stop throwing unnecessary money down the drain.
- The other side of this coin is to generate enough new business so that much more money starts flowing in. And that again comes back to effective marketing methods that pay for themselves.
So sum up….. to Avoid the Slow Death By Cash Flow?….Don’t ever lose sight of that monster. Be awake and alert all the time and cut away anything which does not actually measurably pay for itself.
