Tag Archives: Financing

5 Ways You Can Ruin Your Startup Before Getting Your First Customer

Contributed article in our entrepreneurial series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

If you are planning a startup, know this: you are statistically unlikely to succeed. According to Forbes, nine out of ten startups fail. They may have run out of cash, have ineffective management, fail to properly market their product or service, or some combination of all the above.

But you are not destined to fail. Before you even think about opening your doors to the public, you need to ensure that your business is prepped for success. Here are five factors that commonly cause startups to fail and what you can do to keep your future business afloat:

1. Financing Your Startup with Predatory Loans

Getting startup capital can be a struggle. Bootstrapping your business is a challenge for most starting entrepreneurs, so getting a loan can seem like a wise move. Continue reading→

Why is Positive Cash Flow So Important to a Small Business?

Contributed article in our startup series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Cash is the lifeblood of any business. To use a medical analogy, think of your business as a heart. The cash flows in via paid invoices (the veins) and the cash flows out to creditors via your ‘arteries’. If you have a blockage in a vein, it starves the heart of oxygen. This is not good. You might limp on for a while, but unless the blockage is cleared, your heart (the business) will stop beating.

Unfortunately, many small business owners don’t pay close enough attention to their cash flow. They are too busy marketing their products and services, schmoozing new clients, and expanding the business to think much about whether existing clients have paid their invoices. It’s only when the cash dries up and they don’t have enough money to pay a creditor that panic sets in

Why Cash Flow Matters

Negative cash flow is the main reason why businesses fail. Statistics continually show that 90% of all businesses fail in the first year. Those that do survive will fail within five years. In the majority of cases, a lack of cash flow is the reason why it all goes wrong.Continue reading→