Running a small business is the kind of pipe dream many people have. The freedom to see your ideas come to fruition, it’s absolutely gratifying. That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s not always a walk in the park.
There are several types of small businesses everywhere and here are some of them.
Whether you’re a one-man-show or a small organisation, fund-raising, procurement of capital, meeting business goals, closing sales, marketing, and branding are tedious work.
So, let’s talk about finances.
First, we’d look at properly managing your finances to help stabilise your business.
At this stage, you’re not just looking to break even. You’re trying to ensure that your company’s at a point where it can ride through rough spots without failing.
To manage your company, you’ll need to have enough funds to pay both yourself and your staff. You will be balancing the finances and funding in a way that will keep your credit healthy. The way to do this is to monitor your books regularly and always, always plan ahead.
Some SMEs will have an easier time managing their company’s finances than others - we are not made equal.
For example, one business owner may be skilled in bringing on partners, suppliers, and VCs. Another business owner may be adept at looking at the numbers, speaking and presenting to investors, and combing through the accounts like it is the back of their hands.
But it IS clear that the more willing you are to pivot your business, the more advantages you will have over your competitors.
Many financial experts will tell you the same thing - the very backbone that helps your business float through rough waters or bring it to a whole new level of success is you and the people working for you.
It’s easy to try to put yourself in the backseat or cut your staff’s salary during tough times because paying for day-to-day expenses and operations takes a huge bite out of your accounts.
However, the professor and director of Master of Science in Financial Analysis at Gordon College have this to say: “Small business owners should not overlook their own roles in the company and should compensate themselves accordingly.”
Always remember that you and your staff are the backbone of the company, so don’t neglect to compensate yourself for having played the biggest role in the company.
For those who are using talents and staff from overseas, use our multi-currency account. For those using talents and staff from overseas, use our multi-currency account. Using INFT saves you cost because there is no minimum deposit, monthly fee, or fall below fees.
Every cent saved is every cent earned, as they say in business.
For many big organisations, putting aside some money from the company’s budget for training, seminars, workshops, and tools that will make the lives of the workers more efficient, and growing the company into something bigger, is an important part of their business strategy.
This is one of the most important differentiators that will help rise above your competitors.
Even when you’re a small business owner with less than 5 employees to your name, keeping your eye on the future and investing in ways to scale and innovate your business makes a big difference.
Your employees will appreciate your willingness to invest in both the company and their careers.
It’s scary when a business thinks of having to acquire loans to either start or grow their business. Your accountant will probably be sitting at his or her desk battling an anxiety attack.
For instance, if your restaurant business is trying to grow because a new partner has come on board, and you have an incredible idea to bring your business to its next level, how do you do that?
Without new rounds of funding, investment, or a small business loan, you might feel lost.
Most traditional banks are not going to easily give you a business loan to grow your business. Credit checks are more stringent than anything else…AND you may need collateral.
The good news is that companies like INFT, a new concept of lenders, neo-banks, are more willing to invest in your business with tidy interest rates. Just open up a digital bank account and go from there. Use the money to purchase new equipment, grow your team, and get supplies from your dealers or contractors without worrying about everyday expenses.
We saw the tragic end of countless businesses, not just in Singapore or Malaysia, but all over the world. Cash flow became a monumental mountain to climb. Every business has at least one or two clients who are consistently late on paying their invoices.
This is a universal inconvenience for small business owners and their accountants all over the world.
If you’re having problems with such clients, and their numbers are growing, it’s time to get creative with collections.
According to the Managing Editor of Invoice Factoring Guide, incentivising your clients to pay up early is one way to encourage early payment from your clients. An example would be to give early payers a 10% off of their next purchase from you.
If you don’t want to lose track of all the invoices issued, using an invoicing tool like the one with INFT, an overview and filtering tools will help you catch up with unpaid invoices.
No one really likes hustling with a late payer or using a lawyer to make the clients pay. Sometimes, our clients are, for real, having cash flow issues and cannot afford to pay your invoice at the moment.
With INFT, you can offer a feasible payment plan for them. At the end of the day, you get your payment, albeit a little later (but you get to plan ahead with this, though), and the client is happy that they can now finally afford to pay you.
When dealing with clients who are facing a financial crunch, set payment expectations and establish the trust that will not only retain the client but set a precedent for a good client relationship with them.
Remember that developing a long-lasting relationship with your client is a two-way street. Nobody, especially a small business owner, likes to delay payment and is deemed incapable of paying your invoice.
For small business owners, you’re probably wearing many hats. With so many tasks on your to-do list and meetings to attend, it’s easy to lose track of the issuance of invoices. Or track them when they’re due.
We’ve seen business owners who ‘thought they sent the invoices’ (which they had forgotten about), and when a reminder was sent to their clients, it was discovered that the invoice was never sent. It was overlooked.
It hurts your reputation. And we don’t want that…ever.
The solution? INFT has a multi-user feature that allows you to stay in control, in real-time. Everything is transparent.
You can use it to scale faster without being left behind, reduce risk, and boost the productivity of your team.
Before you click off, here are other money tips we would like to share with you.
First of all, mark down a date for paying your bills or your staff…and stick to it. One of the most confusing parts of accounting and financing is haphazard planning. Using tools like auto-debit and INFT tools to automate some of the payments will, hands down, make your life easier!
Secondly, I know we talk a lot about auto-debit but the reality is that it really DOES make running your business easier! One note, however, is to remember to read your bank statements every month-end. You would want to ensure that the right auto-debits have gone through and for the right amount. Keep a look out for unsuspecting scams.
Third, make way for a budget buffer. We budget for everything - staff, salary, utilities, travelling expenses, entertainment, etc, but we forget about unexpected expenditures.
For this, some experts suggest using a stress test. This means making 3 different buffers - best case, worst case, and middle-way case. Generally speaking, we should put aside enough buffer money to cover something between 3 to 5 months of our usual day-to-day expenses.
INFT is a Super Digital Finances Platform that encompasses everything you need to digitise your business. We offer cash lines to help you expand your business affordably and easily.
There are online digital tools for you to use for invoicing, payments, and receipt of money. In fact, even when you’re jet-setting around the world, you can manage your team’s expenses online, complete on your mobile!
If your team needs to increase the budget for their corporate cards, just load up INFT and get it approved right away! If you can’t do it yourself, assign your CTO or account to check and authorise it.
With one dashboard, everything is above the board. There’s transparency and clear accountability for what’s happening in your company. Everything from who’s spending what, and which invoices remain unpaid.
Sign up for an account with INFT by either speaking to our consultant at (+65) 6635 5668, emailing us at cs@inft.co, or completing this sign-up form to get started.
