6 Ways You Can Improve Your Business Finances

Article Contributed by John Baird

However long you’ve been trading and whatever stage of development your company is at there is always plenty to be gained from improving the way you organise your finances and financial processes.

Here are 6 ways in which you can look to do precisely that:

1 – Set realistic targets

Having clear goals set as benchmarks to aim for can help to keep motivation levels up in any context and small business operations is no exception. The key here is to set financial targets that are challenging but realistically attainable over a period of time, whether it’s a month, a quarter or an entire year’s worth of operating you have in mind.

2 – Speed up your payment processes

It is easy for small business bosses to be distracted in all manner of ways while going about their work on a daily basis but one issue that really shouldn’t go overlooked is that of payment processes. You’ve worked hard to secure sales and deliver a quality service but unless you have a proactive and reliably swift invoicing policy in place then all that effort can easily come to naught.

3 – Do more of whatever’s working

A key skill as a small business boss is identifying what you’re operation is doing well and where things are not going quite as well as they might be. Your financial accounts are often as good an indicator as any as to where the true strengths of your business really lie. It will be tempting at times to worry more about what you are not doing well as a business but doing more of what delivers profits is generally a more effective policy to pursue.

4 – Create a detailed financial plan

Having a few headline goals as far as your company’s finances are concerned can be a great motivation but a comprehensive financial plan will generally help inform decision-making processes on a day-to-day basis. Whether or not you’re the kind of person who loves pouring over financial figures, any time you spend analysing your accounts and assessing your company’s progress is likely to be time well spent.

5 – Keep learning

From the perspective of small business bosses in any field, gaining a keener understanding and appreciation of financial matters can be a huge advantage and one that makes a real difference. Whatever age or stage of your career you’re at, learning as much as you can about the financial side of running a business can only make you a better entrepreneur and improve the prospects for your company.

We all know that finances matter a great deal in the context of small business operating and even minor improvements in the way you manage your money can be crucial. With that in mind, if you can follow the above tips, you should soon see your company’s bottom line heading firmly in the right direction.

Author bio
John Baird is a personal finance and insolvency expert from Scotland Debt Solutions. He specialises in advising people on how to manage their money and deal with their personal debt problems.