Posts Tagged ‘money’

Yesterday I arose with the sun to attend a seminar on cash flow and budgeting presented by my esteemed business advisor, Trish Thomas of Akamai Consulting, and Connor Morganti of Johnson-Morganti, a financial planning and insurance company.

Though the topic is at best snooze-worthy and at worst panic-inducing, I came away with plenty of insight on how to make cash flow even when financial times are tough.  Here’s a selection of tips and advice from Trish and Connor.  If you like them, drop me a line or a comment and I’ll make sure to invite you to the next in the series…it’s totally free!

Take money in quickly and consistently.  This means invoicing promptly, collecting aggressively, and making sure to require deposits and down payments to spread the financial love.

Hang on to $ as long as possible…and spend wisely.  Trish told the story of a client who paid off a huge bill at the end of last year…only to have to lay off an employee this year due to lack of cash.

It takes a long time to build up financial credibility…and only an instant to tear it back down.  You owe it to your financial reputation to be proactive if times are tight.  Be the first to reach out with a credible plan.  It can save you with banks, lenders, and vendors.

Don’t run and hide from the word “budget.” It can seem pointless to budget with uncertain cash flow, but you need to create a system that puts expectations in place and allows you to measure performance and set goals.

You get out what you put in.  Work on abolishing the poverty-minded mindset and resist the temptation to play into the panic that characterizes this downturn.

Photo courtesy of garydenness