You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2010.
After a rigorous selection process, Ftrans is pleased to be in great company as a presenter at Finovate Spring 2010. Each year, Finovate showcases a select group of the most cutting edge financial and banking technology companies from all over the world. From start-ups to large enterprises such as TSYS and Fiserv, the latest fintech will be presented on May 11, 2010 in San Francisco. If you are interested in the fintech space and haven’t been to a Finovate forum, then we highly recommend your participation. Stop by and see us while you are there.
Did you ever do something that everyone else thought was crazy that turned out to be smart? I bet when Truett Cathy began selling his chicken sandwich, they were not thinking that he was the smartest small business owner around; maybe they even thought he was a little crazy. Strangely though, thanks to Mr. Cathy, I seem to keep eating Mor Chikin. Speaking of crazy ideas, can you imagine telling your investors that you’re a fast food restaurant that’s not going to be open on Sundays? They would say you were crazy. But Truett Cathy is not crazy; he’s crazy smart.
If you’re a small to medium sized business and let your customers pay you on terms, is that crazy? No. Although, don’t you wish they would pay you much more quickly? Most business owners have a list of several pressing, growth-oriented ways to deploy cash, payroll included, and need it as soon as possible. What if you gave your customers a 2% discount to pay you in 5 days and they did it every time? Most small businesses would be all over that. In fact, a small business can set up an accounts receivable line of credit that allows them to get their cash in a few days for a fee. The conventional wisdom is that financing your business by setting up a line of credit based on your receivables, or factoring, is crazy. It’s not; it’s crazy smart. Every time a business accepts a credit card for payment, they are getting paid faster for a fee. Risk bucking the conventional wisdom to something cash-wise.
It’s the businesses who take a risk and do something different from their competitors that give themselves the opportunity to stand out. Have you done something crazy that turned out to be crazy smart?
There were times when I lay down on the floor at night, close to crying, and said, “I’m done. I can’t make payroll.” Then my wife would come over and kick me and say, “Get up and figure it out.” One time, I got a customer to prepay us. Another time, I came into the office and said, “Oh, by the way, we’re changing payroll dates.” That bought me 10 days.
This month’s issue of Inc. is full of 3-minute case stories of entrepreneur productivity. The above quote comes from Josh James of Omniture which recently announced its acquisition by Adobe. It caught my eye because of how honest it was. If you are running a small business, you have to have had the same gut twisting night at least once. Josh is a creative guy and he brought creativity to solving his cash flow crunches.
What was the most creative approach you ever took to solving cash flow problems?
Small Business Insights 