Ah summer…vacation time for most of the business world. They head off to the beach to have a good time. You as a small business owner probably don’t have this luxury.
This time of year can be awful for a small business owner, especially this year with the economic problems a lot of companies are experiencing.
In addition to the economy, there are other factors that can and do contribute to the annual dog days of summer for entrepreneurs.
People in the companies you work with are on vacation. After you have worked for several weeks on a new contract and thought you were going to get the new contract signed, the person you were dealing with has gone on vacation for two weeks!
Two weeks doesn’t sound that long but when you are just starting and living contract to contract, two weeks can be a long, long time.
Not getting that new contract signed could have significant implications and waiting two or more weeks can be dangerous for someone just starting out or not quite making a profit yet.
Then your own employees or contractors usually want more time for their families in the summer so the deadlines that you established for the completion of your contracts are coming due, the products are not quite ready, and it is difficult to plan on when they will be done.
While you are finishing up your current contracts and the dread of not having future contracts executed yet is looming, there are things you can do to keep your business moving along.
Continue marketing. Get your name out there. Call people with the hopes they will be in the office. Continue trying to collect monies owed you. Keep your employees busy doing many of the things they were too busy to do during the year like maintenance on the machines, cleaning the laboratory or shop, and maintaining company vehicles and equipment.
Your employees don’t have to know that you are worried about getting contracts and bringing in revenues, you must remain upbeat. Continue forward progress.
There are many small businesses being seriously impacted by finances right now. Larger companies who have contracted you to do work may also be feeling the financial pinch and will become slow payers. They owe you money, you can’t get paid; thus you have trouble paying your own bills…and so on.
You still have to order supplies, meet your payroll and pay monthly expenses. You may have to step up your collection activity.
You may also have to work harder to get commitments from companies you want to work for. If expenses become overwhelming, in extreme circumstances you can arrange a short-term loan against the commitments you have secured.
Thank heaven summer only comes along only once a year. Usually everyone gets back to work in earnest after Labor Day.
Try to hang in there!
Article © Copyright 2001 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by Paradigm News, Inc.
