We are halfway through our “30 days of Strategy”.
The goal of these posts has been to help small business owners understand strategy at a basic level, so they can drive great results:
- More Profit
- Improved cash flow (more money in the bank over time)
- Greater achievement of the mission of the business
I realize that some concepts may be new so in this post, I want to talk about cash flow and the importance of having a cash flow strategy.
Remember, we defined strategy as performing specific actions that your rivals do not performance which helps you win in the marketplace.
When you run out of cash, you lose, so having a cash flow strategy is really important.
So, what is your cash flow strategy?
Is it, “at the end of the month I still have cash in the bank so I’m good?”
A good cash flow strategy allows you to anticipate ebbs and flows of cash and project your actual cash flow balance several weeks out – I’d suggest 13 weeks out.
This takes the stress out of managing cash and allows you to be proactive and make a decision before it is too late.
I created a simple cash flow forecast sheet here.
This is simple as filling in your income and expenses from your bank statement on a weekly basis (every Monday). After several weeks of this, you will have a good handle on how many weeks of cash you have and can they make more informed spending decisions.
Hope this helps!
If you need help with strategy, contact us.