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Guest post by: Russell Bowyer Become an Author

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How to turn your prospects into paying customers

One of the biggest battles in the search for business is getting your website found on the internet - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay per Click (PPC). You may be thinking that this is another article about SEO and if you were you will be forgiven for thinking this, but it's not at all... SEO is a vital part of your online business, but it is not where it ends! Let me explain further... People only buy when they: 1.Know your company; 2.Like what they see, and; 3.Trust you or your company. So once you have spent your money attracting people to your website, you now need to direct your attention to converting those prospects into paying customers by working on the above list, so how do you do this?

Cash Flow Forecasts

Companies with strategic business plans enjoy greater revenue and profit growth than companies that don't have one! In 1993, AT&T commissioned a study of small businesses. The survey found that companies that had a business plan were far more likely to succeed than those that did not. Notably, only 42 percent of the businesses surveyed in the AT&T study had a formal business plan - a statistic that hasn't changed much in the past 10 or so years. Yet according to more recent studies, companies with a strategic plan enjoy greater revenue and profit growth than companies that don't have one, and their failure rate is much lower.

Times are tough with the credit crunch!

As times are tough both for householders and businesses alike this is when it is important to make sure your business is operating to the optimum. Also, you may be having cash flow difficulties and be looking to raise some cash from the bank. Now, I thought that it would be difficult to get a loan, however, I recently saw my bank manager (who is from Barclays as it happens) for one of my businesses and he said that they are encouraging lending to businesses. His comment was that Barclays had been a bit tight with their lending over recent years so they are looking to expand their lending book. So if you are doing some cash flows and things are not looking so good and you have been listening to the news out there - things might not be as bad as they seem on the face of it.

Cash flow is king!

Cash flow is the key to business success. The vast majority of business failures is down to bad cash flow, if not all failures for that matter! If you want to run a good business and a successful one at that you must keep an eye on cash flow. Whilst profitability is important, profit is no good to any business unless the money you invoice to your customers is collected in full and in time! Forget balance sheets and profit and loss accounts if you are not accounting minded, but get to grips with your business cash flow. If you lose control of your cash flow you will lose control of your business either to the bank and or the receiver/liquidator! If anything, with most new ventures the cash flow is over optimised. It is always worth while being realistic when planning cash flow for your business.

Keep cash flow to an optimum

Keep cash flow to an optimum by observing the following suggested methods: - Keep your payroll bill down to an absolute minimum - however, always pay good money to good employees or they will walk! - Try to avoid signing long-term rental agreements and if fancy offices are not necessary don't bother with upmarket office space, especially if your customers rarely visit your business. - Don't overpay yourself - you only need to take out what is enough to feed yourself. - Keep a close eye on staff travel and entertainment and avoid issuing staff with company credit cards and mobile phones! - Fancy office furniture hurts the bank balance and is not necessary unless you are in the type of business that needs to impress clients. Secondhand or liquidation stock furniture is the best option and will save you a small fortune!

Should the UK and the Eurozone adopt America’s Chapter 11 format for bankruptcy?

In America, when a company gets into difficulty it can file for what is called Chapter 11 which is named after the U.S. bankruptcy code 11. Chapter 11 is a form of bankruptcy that involves a reorganisation of a company's business affairs and assets and it generally filed by corporations that require time to restructure their debts. In essence, Chapter 11 gives the company a fresh start, subject to the company's fulfillment of the obligations under its plan of reorganisation. Whereas in the UK, for example, a company has to either go into receivership or liquidation. Where a company goes into liquidation the business ceases and the company's directors appoint a liquidator to sell the assets of the company in order to pay off as many of it's creditors as is possible.

How businesses can beat the credit crisis

The credit crisis is hitting businesses around the globe and at a time when you see World Governments pledging financial support for banks then you know that there is a REAL problem. No one knows quite how long this crisis is going to last or indeed how bad things will get, but one thing is for sure confidence is a low, property prices are falling, properties are being repossessed and people are being made redundant. With the picture painted and that part out of the way, I want to reassure my readers that I am not trying to reap doom and gloom here although a reality check is never a bad thing. When times are tough there are certain things that businesses can do to get through and this article is dedicated to that end.

Are there any businesses that are recession-proof?

There are probably many businesses that are recession-proof, but things might be different in the present down-turn as things might get tougher with falling property prices, rising unemployment and so on. If you are looking for a business that is recession-proof try typing the term "recession-proof business" in the upper left box and then choose from the hits there. This search will turn up sites giving you their wisdom on top tips to survive a recession along with other blogs and websites telling you which businesses are most likely to survive during a recession. I will leave it to you to decide on which of these writers know their stuff. However, if you hit on something that looks like the type of business you would like to buy or even set up yourself, then do a bit more research on that type of business.

Surviving the recession

There is no doubt that the recession is hitting everyone and as a result there are not many businesses that have not been affected so far. This is the time for the "Survival of the Fittest" and if you want to survive the recession you need to take action. Most businesses are stuck with the idea that the only way to increase profits is to increase prices and some think that the only other way is to increase their customer numbers. Both of these two actions will increase your business profits if they are done in the right way, however, they are by no means the only ways in which to grow your business. In fact I have listed that there are actually 7 Ways to Grow Your Business. When I have spoken to most business owners they usually say "We can't possibly increase our prices!" "We will lose our customers!".

Cash flow forecast software

Cash flow forecast software the bear essentials. In preparing a good cash flow forecast for a bank or and investor you need to know what the forecasts should include. I have therefore put together a list of what you should include, as follows: - The cash flow projection should realistically be for a period of not less than 36 months ahead. And for each of the three years these should be presented on a month-by-month basis. - The forecasts should distinguish between the business cash flow and the business profit and loss figures. Cash flow of a business relates to the timing money is received by the company and paid out of the company and would include VAT in the UK and Europe and Sales Tax in America.

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