Most small business owners experience financial problems in the first few years. Many of them don’t manage to keep their heads above the water by the end of the first year. The number of mistakes you can make as an SMB-owner is huge. Still, most of them are repairable, given that you react on time.
Here are five fast tips that can help you deal with your business debt and restart your finances.
1) Identify the main debt generators
Your first task is to identify your major debt generators. Some businesses spend a lot of assets on their overhead expenses. From heating and water bills to electricity and Internet bills, every business owner has a lot on their plate.
When you’re in debt, you need to audit these bills to see how to reduce those expenses. For starters, you can allow your workers to work one day of the week from home. Businesses with a larger number of workers will consume less electricity that way. Make sure to compare the electricity bills and check if this measure has reduced consumption.
If possible, move to a less expensive office. Office rents can vary significantly in different parts of town. So, search for a new office space or try to lower the price of your current one.
2) Separate your business and personal expenses
If you launch an LLC, you’re legally obliged and forced to keep your business and personal finances apart.
However, many small businesses are one-man bands, i.e. they’re run and operated by a solopreneur. In this case, your personal and business assets aren’t separated. So, if you start generating debt in your business, you might be forced to pay it with your personal belongings.
So, it’s crucial to open two separate accounts – one for your business assets and the other one for personal money. This will help you pay your operating expenses on both fronts easily.
3) Sell unnecessary things and assets
Buying more office equipment than necessary is a trap in which many new business owners fall into. They often splurge money on their office chairs and desks. Also, every modern office has a water cooler and numerous screens.
These items are necessary to make your office and your business look professional.
But if your unpaid invoices keep piling up, it’s vital to cut these office expenses.
First and foremost, think about the items you could sell without affecting your productivity. For instance, selling one or more TV-sets from your office is a reasonable choice.
Moreover, solopreneurs could stop renting an office and arrange a home office. That way, you’ll eliminate the rent and many overhead expenses. That way, you could start living as a debt-free businessperson after just a few months. Of course, when you recover and your workload increases, you can rent a new office and start hiring employees.
4) Change the payroll policy
If you can’t save enough money by cutting the overhead expenses, you need to revise your payroll policy. Small business owners with employees should sit down with their staff and explain the situation.
First, ask them to cut their monthly salary into two different parts. That way, you can pay them at the beginning and in the middle of the month. This may help you get your accounts payable in order.
If this doesn’t improve your financial situation, you’ll either have to reduce their salaries or make some redundancies.
Since this is a slippery slope, you need to start from your example. Reduce your own salary, get rid of your expensive belongings, and show your employees that you’re also taking the burden of your business debt. Otherwise, you might lose all your employees, which will lead to a total business demise.
5) Increase conversions on the website
Saving and austerity measures aren’t the only road to the debt recovery. Increasing conversions and revenues is more efficient because it will allow you to keep your employees while sorting out your debt. If you’re a solopreneur, you’ll be able to keep your office and continue leading the lifestyle you’re used to.
For starters, you can reduce the price you charge per your service or product. If this results in generating more customers, your total income could increase.
Apart from that, make changes to your website. It might not be valuable enough for your visitors or it might not be user-friendly. So, check out your website analytics to see where the problem lies.
The crew behind the web application development services in Houston suggest that you change the user interface of the crucial parts of your website to make interaction with users smoother. Also, think about launching a mobile app to enable mobile users to use your website and buy your products more easily.
Conclusion
Business owners know that running a venture is no cakewalk. Financially speaking, some months are better, others are worse. What’s crucial is to keep your revenues high. If they decrease, you can easily slip into debt. In that case, follow our tips and try any other ideas to reduce your expenses or boost your sales to sort out your business debt. Once you clear your debt record, you’ll be able to start growing your business all over again.
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Author Byline: Liam Collins is a tech pundit and Web enthusiast working at TuiSpace.com. He spends most of his time reading and writing about the current affairs in the world of information technology. When he isn’t working, he likes going for long bike rides and walks in nature.
