March 16th, 2009
Everyone has a different opinion about why small business fail: poor planning, lack of good management, lack of funding, mismanagement of funds. I offer as my opinion, “Receivables” collecting and tracking. No, the number one reason is not enough money, it is the collecting and tracking of money owed to the business. Business owners are caught up in the day to day operations of running their company, getting the business, selling, and managing employees, and in an effort to keep cost down they also believe they can attend to the record keeping of the company. This usually happens in the late evening or the wee hours of the morning. Because enough attention is not being paid to the record keeping, things slip through the cracks. The billing is done six weeks out and the aging is never collected. Receivables that are past due with balances of twenty or fifty dollars are not bothered with, because there are more pressing matters to attend to. The next big client is more important than a handful of small clients. Change how your company does its billing and watch your company grow.
Six steps to help with Receivables:
1. Frequently billing clients. Clients have an easier time paying a small bill than a larger one.
2. Consistent billing, the same day of the month, or the same date of the month.
3. If its a large client, get a deposit.
4. Plan one day every week to take care of aging accounts receivable.
5. Make sure staff is aware of clients that are past due.
6. Do not let client’s problems become your problems.
Posted in Small Business Finances | No Comments »
March 16th, 2009
Everyday we are faced with financial decisions, one of our toughest decisions is when or how to educate our child about finances. Will it be when they get their first paycheck or when they go off to college? How about middle school? Incredible? Far fetched? Maybe, but no unattainable.
Located in Marina Del Rey, CA is a finance firm educating youth as young as nine into the world of finance. Children are taught how to prepare a budget based on their allowance or expected gifts and how to use that budget to save for their future and planned purchases. i.e. video games.
Other subjects also addressed are: calculating and understanding sales tax, calculating interest and dividends based on the money a child saves.
Parents of older kids need not worry, there are also subjects taught to students about; understanding their paycheck, the pitfalls of credit cards and how to manage student loan debt and avoid becoming another statistic. Pen and Paper teaches a wide array of courses and these are just some of the subjects currently being taught.
Posted in Youth Money Management | No Comments »
March 15th, 2009
Which one has the greatest impact on your child’s life?
So much attention has been given to the potential impact cigarettes have on our children. But has anyone stopped to think about the impact credit cards are having on our children? Is the advertising and solicitation of unwanted credit cards any worse than the marketing and advertising of cigarettes? We are trying to burn the cigarette advertising at the stake, while credit card pre-approval applications are being sent out to high school and college bound children by the droves.
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