With money tighter than ever before, one of the biggest issues confronting businesses is their cash-flow.

According to a report by CreditorWatch, average payment times were down 10 per cent across industries in September.

As many individuals and companies struggle to make payments, it’s imperative that all businesses make sure they have accessed every pathway to keep their cash flow healthy.

There are plenty of options available to business owners to take control of their cash flow that many may not have considered and others may have dismissed as in the ‘too-hard’ basket’.

But they can change the game for how your business operates and give you a confidence and surety in your immediate future you may have been missing in recent months.

Here are my five key steps:

1. Keep an up-to-date cash flow forecast – what gets measured gets managed. It’s one of the most common and fundamental mistakes I see many business owners make, and it’s so avoidable. 
2. Know what government support you’re eligible for and apply for all of it – there’s plenty of government support many owners aren’t aware of. Help in this area could be a game-changer.
3. Have a process for collections – and be consistent – Setting the standard for collections early and sticking to it gives certainty to you and your clients/customers and enables a clearer forecast.
4. Negotiate all expenses – Including debt, fixed-term contracts and suppliers – Now is not the time to be backwards in coming forward. Look at every expense and assess if it can and should be negotiated.
5. Be fair but diligent around staffing levels. This is a trickier proposition as staff need hours, but it’s important to be creative and supportive. Think differently about how your business is staffed and be prepared to embrace change.