Cash flow is the lifeblood of a business. Without positive cash flow, a business cannot maintain its solvency, turn a profit, or grow. Businesses need to generate positive cash flow in order to pay employees, creditors and utility bills. Sometimes, business owners have difficulty generating positive cash flow through normal business operations. In such cases, they often turn to alternative cash-generation options.
Instructions
Diversify Your Products and Services
1. Watch the market for chances to get in on selling the next big thing. Pay particularly close attention to new products that hit the market around major holidays like Christmas, as you may be able to increase your cash flow with holiday-specific items or in-demand gifts.
2. Pay attention to demand versus supply, as you don’t want to start selling products that are offered by many different businesses. Instead, focus on selling hard-to-find items or at least offering lower prices than the competition.
3. Expand your product or service list. Instead of selling just a couple of products, branch out to include at least several additional products in your for-sale lineup. This gives you more chances to make additional sales with your customers.
4. Find new places to sell your products our services. In addition to your own website, look to selling on auction sites and face to face. Gaining more exposure should increase your cash flow.
Seek Outside Help With Cash Flow
5. Approach venture capitalists for help. Venture capitalists invest in businesses that are having difficult raising enough money to fund their activities. Typically, these investors are willing to offer cash to businesses with medium to high levels of risk, but they also expect a high level of return on their investments.
6. Seek angel investors. These investors usually offer capital to businesses in the startup stage and expect a higher level of return than they would typically earn from other investments.
7. Request a business loan. While banks and credit unions are typical places to look for loan money, an organization like the Small Business Administration (SBA) may be more likely to offer loans to businesses with fewer assets and riskier financial backgrounds.
