Predict and plan: work out in detail when you can expect cash to come in and plan how you will spend it. It will help you to see where you can generate extra cash to fund new projects if you are growing, or even pay off old creditors if you are stressed. While this applies whatever the size of business, it is particularly critical if you are a micro businesses or a small businesses with significant order-to-ship lead times, buying materials and selling products on credit terms, when you will have a significant working capital - cash - requirement to fund the work in process. On this article we'll show you how to put together a cash flow management workbook that will help you to manage your cash, month by month. Start with your order book and prospect list Starting with cash coming in, you'll know your order book, but what about beyond that? This is the hard bit - study your prospect list and write down when you can expect to get new orders from those clients. For this you have to … [Read more...]