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Making improvements to your organization’s financial position is not an easy thing to do. It requires you to assess all aspects of your business. Next, you need to identify and act on areas that need to be improved. Improving your organization’s financial position is not a one time process. It is a continual process that requires you to evaluate changing factors that influence your company’s overall financial state. There are specific actions that you can take today that will give you the best results moving forward.
Lower Your Expenses
You cannot completely control your organization’s flow of customers. You can’t unilaterally increase revenue. However, you do have a lot of control over your expenses. You may think that you are running on a lean budget. However, if you scrutinize every area of your business, you will likely find cheaper alternatives to the products, equipment, and services you are using. One area that is ripe for penny-pinching is the technology you are using. If your business is like most others, you have migrated just about all of your data storage to the cloud. Even in the cloud, there are opportunities to save money. For example, your business can look into using AWS which means you can use an AWS savings plan to benefit you.
If your team is not using all of the contracted cloud resources, you are losing money every single hour. If you commit and use more resources than expected, you are paying for those resources at the most expensive price AWS offers. Forecasting your organization’s cloud usage and cloud cost is difficult. Interestingly, many organizations end up spending a lot of money and time trying to forecast their cloud usage in order to save a few dollars. If you work with experts who focus on optimizing cloud and storage, you may be able to find that sweet spot where every single month you are using close to your maximum cloud allowance. You may even find that you are able to reduce the amount of money you are spending on cloud storage.
Get Paid
If your organization is not getting paid for unpaid invoices, you are hurting your cash flow. The more frequently this happens, the worse off your business is going to be. When you look at your invoices, it could look like your organization is profitable. However, because you don’t have your cash flow under control, you may not have the money that you need to pay your debts. If this is a recurring issue for your business, now may be the time to talk to a debt collection agency. Or if you don’t feel that you are ready to take that step, you need to dedicate energy to regularly reminding debtors of their obligations. Additionally, when you create sales agreements, ensure that the terms are clearly laid out when it comes to when payment is due and how overdue payments should be treated.
Get Rid of Unused or Unwanted Assets
Look around your office, warehouse, or garage. Does your business have items that are not being used and that are just taking up extra space? If you sell them now, you get immediate access to cash. Additionally, you are able to free up space that could be used in a more productive way. For example, if you are paying to store items you are not using, this is an unnecessary expense. If you have a ton of items that you need to sell, think about putting them up for auction. There are several auction houses that specialize in selling business equipment and items. Or try to sell them yourself with online auction websites like eBay.
Attract More Customers
This is going to be one of those times when you are going to need to spend money in order to make money. If your marketing is not up-to-date, if your website is not user-friendly, and if you are not taking full advantage of social media, then you are literally letting money walk out of your door. Test your marketing campaigns. Make sure they are giving you the best return on your investment.
Conclusion
Balancing your finances can be a challenge. However, if you take the time to improve your marketing, sell unwanted items, and lower your expenses, you may find that you have your business finances under control sooner than you thought possible.
