This guest post is from Martin Povey, a business marketing coach located in Canada.

When you operate a B&B, a resort, a camp or other hospitality sector based business and a recession hits, or for whatever reason occupancy is down you sometimes have to think sideways to get things straight!

“Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists”. Edward de Bono

Think in terms of what your assets are and how you could “repurpose” how those assets could be used. Stop thinking about what you are and start thinking about what you could be.

By this I mean if you operate a B&B, can you keep the cash flowing by providing a venue for a local networking groups breakfast or lunch, or are you a great afternoon tea destination, a perfect spot for an intimate wedding? How about business think tanks, hosting yoga or reiki classes and, of course, don’t forget corporate stay business.

If your asset is a resort or camp can you handle family reunions, a vintage car show, become the ultimate yard sale destination. Do an online search for retreats, find out who’s hosting them, who’s attending and for what reason. Are you located in a birdwatchers paradise or ideal for stargazers? If you have the infrastructure, sell daily, weekly or seasonal passes to town and city folks just itching to “get away for a day”.

My point is to start thinking sideways. Only you know the attributes of your operation, what the physical infrastructure would allow and how best to repurpose them.

So become a “possibility thinker”. Take a moment and a piece of paper and make your list of what could be. It may just surprise you.

Martin Povey owns buildingyourbusiness.ca and is a business and marketing coach who helps entrepreneurs and small businesses that need focus direction and creative solutions to build their business and achieve their goals. He can be contacted at: martin@buildingyourbusiness.ca or 403-529-9259 or visit http://www.buildingyourbusiness.ca/

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This guest post is from Martin Povey, a business marketing coach located in Canada.

My Mother-in-Law passed away a couple of years ago. Mary wasn’t a business owner, not “from money”, nor a particularly highly educated person and I guarantee you that she had absolutely no clue as to what the expression “cash flow” meant.

But boy oh boy, did she have the concept nailed!

Like many folks of her generation she grew up through some tough times – both economic and emotional. She knew and respected the concept of a fair days work for a fair days pay. Understood the true value of a dollar earned. She also had a primary “mantra” that was hammered home to her children all their lives. “Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves” she would repeatedly preach.

Right up till the end she used a state of the art, all in one, banking, accounting and budgeting tool – the PSB deluxe edition with the WBP+E add on module. Or as she knew it Pink Shoe Boxes with White Bits of Paper and Elastics!

Each pink shoe box was suitably designated (telephone, insurance, savings etc) and every penny that went in to, or, came out of each shoe box (and I mean that literally) was carefully recorded and dated on a white bit of paper. The paper and the shoe box lid were held in place by some very brittle elastics.

The rent and later the mortgage money were always there. The food budget, cash for utility bills and special boxes too – for birthdays, Christmas and Easter and even pink shoe boxes started for her grandchildren’s graduations.

Mary knew where every single penny of her enterprise (her household) was at any given time. And so should you.

Managing your cash flow isn’t simply about collecting as much as you can as soon as you can, or, paying out as little as possible till you have to. True cash flow management is knowing the exact where, when, what, why and how of every single penny associated with your business.

It’s not around how you manage your cash flow but simply doing it. Whether you use a shoe box or a super computer is up to you. It’s about the principles – not the processes, or, to paraphrase my Mother in Law “take care of the small things and the big things will look after themselves”.

Martin Povey owns buildingyourbusiness.ca and is a business and marketing coach who helps entrepreneurs and small businesses that need focus direction and creative solutions to build their business and achieve their goals. He can be contacted at: martin@buildingyourbusiness.ca or 403-529-9259 or visit http://www.buildingyourbusiness.ca/

More on this topic:

1. Think Sideways to Keep the Cash Flowing
2. Improving Your Cash Flow by Getting Paid Faster
3. Simple Steps Can Save Money and Improve Cash Flow
4. Is Cash Flow Improving for Small Business?
5. Treat Your Loyal Customers as Special as They Are