PixabayA lot of business owners out there are putting their business at risk by making deadly mistakes in the finance side of things. Here are some of the most common activities among business owners that could end up killing their business’s finances.
Ignoring debt
A lot of business owners don’t pay much attention to their debt. Or, rather, they don’t pay the right amount of attention to their debt. Sure, it might be weighing on their mind a lot, even if it’s only subconsciously. But this is worrying about it – not actually paying attention to what you can do to beat the debts. Many business owners make the mistake of assuming that they’ll sort themselves out as long as business keeps picking up. But you run the risk of throttling your business in the long run if it’s got a lot of debt around its neck. Tackle it head-on. Consider consolidating business debts if you need to make them easier to deal with.
FlickrNot knowing your limits
You should be aware of the risk tolerance of your business. This doesn’t just mean that you should only be aiming to stay in the black. It means knowing how far into the red you could go and still operate with a chance of coming back. You need to know how bad things could get before you’d have to end up filing for bankruptcy. If you’re going to seek more capital for your business, having run out of your last lot, then you need to figure out how to make sure you don’t have to go back a third time.
Letting non-payers get away with it
This is actually alarmingly frequent in many businesses. Most businesses who sell products or services will have to deal with customers who either aren’t paying on time or even don’t plan to pay at all. An ugly situation, but not a hopeless one. Many business owners seem to leave payment collection tasks on the back burner, but this simply isn’t a smart strategy. Of course, it’s not exactly an easy task, which is why so many businesses aren’t as caught up as they should be. You may want to think about working with a debt collector lawyer to ease the process.
Going it alone
If you’re dealing with your business’s finances without any expert assistance, then you’re definitely putting your business at risk! It may seem prudent to skip out of hiring experts in order to save your business some cash, but there’s a reason most businesses hire accountants and attorneys to help them out in these areas. Don’t try to take on complex financial tasks by yourself.
PexelsBibliophobia
Biblio-what? It means a fear of books or reading, and it’s something no business owner should have. Even if you’re getting help from financial and legal experts, there’s no need to be passive about the financial side of things. Get some books on the subject and start reading up. You want to be in a position where you know as much as you can about your business’s financial infrastructure. Otherwise, you’re putting you and your business at a severe disadvantage.
