Small Business Cash Flow » cash flow

Put Controls In Place to Minimize Cash Flow Fraud

Denise O'Berry — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:09:49 +0000

You have enough to worry about without facing the possibility that one of your employees could be ripping off your business. And sadly, that happens way to often to way too many small business owners.

You’ll be humming along and all of a sudden a discovery is made that a trusted employee has been stealing from your business for a long time. Typically this is the person who has responsiblity for handling incoming receipts and paying bills. They might start out small and then the problem grows until they are eventually discovered. But by that time they’ve already stolen tons of hard earned cash from your business.

This type of theft happens to a lot of small businesses who trusted someone they shouldn’t have. And typically there are no controls in place to minimize opportunities. In my new article over at OPEN Forum, I identify for you six actions you must take to protect your cash or lose your business. In a nut shell, the six items are:

1. Hire properly
2. Spread the wealth (so to speak!)
3. Check and balance
4. Open communication
5. Take a break
6. Model integrity

Hop on over and read the article to find out all the details. You deserve to reap the benefits of your hard work and effort. Don’t let someone steal it from you.

What do you think? Do you have a suggestion for preventing cash flow theft in your business? Please leave a comment.

Give Back to Boost Your Bottom Line

Denise O'Berry — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:32:34 +0000

Have you cut back on giving during this recession? According to Kristin Tillquist, author of Capitalizing on Kindness: Why 21st Century Professionals Need to Be Nice, that’s a mistake.

Giving is good for your business and it can come back to you tenfold. Tillquist offers up these five tips for business giving during this recession.

Treat your donations as a business strategy to maximize their social and business benefits
Give when others need it most to build your caring reputation.
Create a culture of kindness to attract and retain the ‘best of the best’ employees.
Companies considered leaders in corporate philanthropy practices “…typically commit between 1 and 5 percent of pre-tax profits to charity,” according to Business for Social Responsibility.
Measuring the results of corporate philanthropy is increasingly important. Giving is good for everyone. That’s the bottom line.

You can learn more about her thoughts on “being a nice business” and the benefits it can reap by watching the video below.

What do you think? Is it important to be a business giver and to embrace kindness in your workplace? Will it help your bottome line? Please leave a comment.

Is Cash Flow Improving for Small Business?

Denise O'Berry — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:10:51 +0000

There seems to be some good news on the horizon according to the recent Small Business Watch report from Discover. According to the survey, small business confidence in cash flow issues edged up just a tad. Here are some of the highlights.

42 percent of small business owners say they have experienced temporary cash flow issues in the past 90 days, down from May’s record high of 49 percent.

26 percent believe economic conditions are improving, up from 23 percent in May, while 57 percent believe conditions are getting worse, which is unchanged from the previous month; 14 percent said the economy is staying the same, and 4 percent weren’t sure.

59 percent of small business operators rate the economy as poor, down 1 percent from May, while 8 percent rate the economy as excellent or good, and 30 percent called it fair.

49 percent of owners see economic conditions for their businesses getting worse, up 1 percentage point from May; 25 percent see conditions improving, also up 1 percentage point; 22 percent say conditions are the same; and 4 percent weren’t sure.

51 percent of small business owners say they plan to decrease spending on business development over the next six months, down from 53 percent in May; 22 percent plan to increase spending, and 24 percent are not planning any spending changes.

How about you? Has your confidence level increased? Please leave a comment.