subject: Smart Business Considerations - thinking of the future [print this page] Smart Business Considerations - thinking of the future
As major lending institutions are putting the real squeeze on SMEs when it comes to lending, businesses are finding it increasingly challenging to secure financing for growth. It means that for many small businesses, there's little choice than to run their operations "hand to mouth" - and running on a dangerous cash flow scenario.
However, when it comes to doing smart business, SME owners and operators need to really plan ahead for the future. Secure your business for the future:
Insurance - while many small businesses use affordability as an excuse to not have insurance, it's vital to the health of any organisation. Insurance costs can be tax deductible, so getting protection really is a smart business expense for an SME. Income protection is especially important for sole traders, who can risk losing their business if they are suddenly unable to work for an extended period of time.
Get finance - cash flow is critical to your business and if there are any interruptions or delays in invoicing or payments, more than one area of your business can be affected. As a result, businesses have to consider smart alternative means to keep cash flowing - cash flow finance is a way that businesses can access the cash in their invoices before the debts have actually been paid.
Grow - in order to continue to thrive in your industry, your business needs to be scalable and continue to grow. Technology leasing is a great way to update your businesses operations and increase production.
By having a plan for the future, businesses can reduce the costs of maintenance and for the replacement of technology that becomes obsolete or breaks down - now that's smart business planning.
