“Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise” – David Zindell
It’s so difficult, isn’t it? To see what’s going on when you’re in the absolute middle of something? It’s only with hindsight we can see things for what they are. When this time of the year arrives, we usually look back on the year to weigh up where we went right, where we went wrong, and how we might do better in 2013.
We, as a cash-flow management solution, are often contacted by prospective clients around this time of the year as a result of the client’s hindsight of their financial progress during the year. The clients have been able to see their financial situation for what it truly is and have often had the realisation that their cash-flow management solutions have not been as effective as they had thought or hoped; with some even weighing up the endless time spent calling, emailing or even harassing their clients for payment and feeling a little helpless just thinking about it.
Truth be told, these realisations are by no means the exception, with more and more business owners struggling to get payment from their clients. Further still, the cash-flow issues are not industry-specific but rather they pervade the business landscape.
In fact, we have even seen interest from business owners in industries we have never before assisted. Even companies that tend to straddle the public/private arenas are recognising that their cash-flow management is lacking in many important areas. Examples of these organisations may include:
- – Schools – surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprising with the quality of the governance in education today) more schools are looking for more dependable ways of guaranteeing the collection of school fees, inclusive of the nursery schools.
- – Non-Profit Organisations – The NPO’s are also feeling the pinch, especially this time of the year, with donations drying up as money gets reallocated to spending for the holidays.
Hindsight for many of these business owners or organisations brings them to a logical conclusion – 2013 will be a repeat of 2012 if they don’t proactively take control of their cash-flow.
Does this sound all too familiar? Are you too looking back over the year and wondering how to take back control of your cash-flow?
We can assist in helping you by implementing a debit order collection as a preferred payment method, assisting from the outset with motivating the facility to your clients.
This process can be implemented at any time during the year, with certain time frames being more successful in different businesses e.g. schools would usually prefer to implement this system after governing body and budget meetings which they have towards the end of the year and then implementing at the beginning of the following school year. Regardless of when the system is implemented, it’s taking that initial step towards taking back control that will count in the long run.
We suggest you take control of your cash flow, streamline the process and save yourself the time spent on endless reconciliation of bank statements and exasperated phone-calls.
You decide, what would you like to look back on at the close of 2013?