Financial issues that SME’s should look out for
Starting a small business is often fraught with issues, risk and the unknown. Getting your feet off the ground as a small business is undoubtedly the hardest challenge you will go through in your life. To make that process slightly easier, we have collated some of the most common financial mistakes and issues that small businesses face and encounter, therefore allowing you to plan in advance should they ever occur.
Unforeseen expenses
Keeping an eye on the long term is key here, spending large sums of money in the short term can be a dangerous thing to do, not putting aside money for the future can lead to you being left in the open. No business owner knows when they are going to need the money they save, you may have a crucial piece of equipment fail, or and i know this is less likely but a flood that destroys a lot of your products. Without insurance this could cause untold damage to the business and likely result in the business having to shut down. When you put aside money that is purposely used as an anchor to keep the business afloat through the toughest times and therefore it is one of the most important factors to consider when wanting your business to succeed long term.
Cash Flow
Cash flow is essential for business when they are looking to having an all round good financial business year. Having money at the start of a year or month is all well and good. However, when it comes to the end of the month, and you have to start paying the bills of your employees it becomes essential that you have controlled the money within your accounts to ensure that there are no issues in your business. Employees expect to be paid, and if you have not managed your money well there won’t be the funds to pay them, and then you have a big issue within your business.
Massive change
For a small business, the slightest issue can have irreparable effects on the business, and it is the ability to function correctly. These can strike at any time and almost always result in the business function reducing, possibly even to a level that results in it coming to a standstill. These can stem from any event, for instance, a small business with say 3 employees losing 2 of their employees, whether that be with them leaving or as a result of injury or sickness would result in the business operations grinding to a standstill, possibly resulting in the business shutting down. There is a way that financially you can help yourself stay away from this situation, one of these is to have cash ready for injection into immediate support staff.
There are 3 really simple issues that you could encounter within regards to the financial situation within your business, avoiding these crucial mistakes puts you on the road to having a very successful business. If you nail these 3 areas, then you have the perfect set up to become very successful in the future and most importantly cancel out some of the main reasons that people fail in business.