Despite the best laid plans of mice and men, too many small business owners have been down this road before.
The road you might be wondering about is the one where the owner of a small business ends up having to put a closed for business sign on his or her door. As a result, years of hard work go by the wayside.
So that you can lessen the odds of that scenario happening to you from the first day you start as a business owner, there are steps you can take to bolster your company’s overall financial health.
They start and end with making sure your sales go according to plan, a plan that some customers will ultimately end up toying with.
Avoiding Chargebacks is Crucial
One of the biggest financial setbacks for small business owners is when a customer reneges on a purchase.
As an example, someone uses a credit card to purchase a product or service from your business, only to turn around hours or days later and dispute that charge on their plastic.
From there, the dispute is typically investigated, yet the customer ends up getting his or her money back on their card. As for the small business owner, he or she is literally then left stuck with the bill.
If this scenario sounds all too familiar to you, it likely has impacted your wallet or purse over time.
While it may feel at times like there is literally nothing you can do in managing your chargebacks that is not always the case.
For instance, turning to a company offering a cardholder dispute resolution network (CDRN) allows you to not only stop chargebacks in their tracks, but also leave your payments protected.
So, instead of you getting stuck with sizable money headaches, you are able to keep your financial footing on the ground.
Steer Clear of Overspending
In running a small business, you will inevitably end up having to purchase a variety of supplies for your office, be it in a building you own or rent or the home you work out of.
That being the case, do your best to make sure you are getting good deals as often as possible on those supplies.
As an example, if you are endlessly ordering paper supplies, why is that?
Not only can you save money by recycling most of the paper in your office, but you will actually be doing the environment a favor too.
If you run an office with employees, consider having your office open four days a week (10-hour days) instead of the traditional five days each week (eight-hour days).
Although you are ultimately open for the same amount of hours each week, you are keeping the office closed one extra day a week (along with the weekends in many cases, though what industry you are in will dictate this).
Unless you are in an industry where weekends are a necessity, closing the office three days a week instead of two allows you to cut down on electricity, heating and cooling etc.
Lastly, the four-day work week allows employees that extra day during the week to take care of personal appointments that they would otherwise need time off from work for.
Decide What’s Best for your Brand
Avoiding chargebacks and steering clear of overspending are but two of the practices you need to be involved in to run a healthy small business.
While there are certainly other means possible to avoid financial predicaments, always be alert to how your company’s money situation is doing.
If you start heading towards the danger zone (being in the red); all you can do to turn things around is essential.
As a small business owner, what advice would you have for fellow owners when it comes to avoiding financial predicaments?