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Where the Bible teaches us how to improve our cashflow

Written by: Michael Smyth

Article Overview: No cash means stunted business growth, worry and sleepless nights wondering to how you are going to pay your bills. So you're lying there at night, eyes wide open, thinking how you are going to face your creditors the next morning. In this situation, many business owners (religious or not) would plead for some kind of divine intervention. Well believe it or not, one strategy for getting your customers to pay on time is actually sitting there in the bible. You just need to know where to look…

Where the Bible teaches us how to improve our cashflow

Moses never argued with God
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘come up to me on the mountain and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and commandment, which I have written for their instruction’, and he gave to Moses, when he made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tables of his testimony, tables in stone, written with the finger of God. And Moses turned, and went down the mountain with the two tables of the testimony in his hands, tables that were written on both sides; on the one side and the other were they written” (Exodus, chapters 24, 31 and 32).
So what has that passage got to do with cashflow? The answer is that God understood the psychology of written terms.

The Psychology of Written Terms
Now God wasn’t seeking payment from his customers in a monetary sense. What he was seeking was far more important and valuable – mankind’s loyalty to the 10 Commandments. So what did he do? He wrote them down on tables of stone and on both sides! By writing down the 10 Commandments in stone he gave them a sense of permanency and urgency.

Now nowhere in the 10 Commandments story does it say that Moses negotiated with God. He didn’t get instructions from mankind and bargain (in good faith) an exception to the adultery commandment. No, he just accepted them.

Customers accept payment terms when they are written down
Think back to the last time you went into a restaurant. Next to each dish is its price. When was the last time you negotiated with the waiter a discount? Compare that to going to a market overseas where there are no prices on anything. You ask the price and are told. Do you think you would be tempted to haggle? Most would.

It is the same in a service business
If you operate a service business that provides an invoice to the customer after the work is carried out, then it is likely you will have experienced problems with some customers over payment. One reason is probably because you didn’t hand your customers your written payment terms before you did the work. If you can produce written payment terms to your customer at that stage of the transaction it is so much easier to get the customer to agree to them. That’s what the psychology of written terms says. Immediately, you take away the compulsion to negotiate when they receive the bill. That’s assuming, that you have written terms of business.

There is no excuse for not having written terms
Every business should have written terms. They form the foundation of your relationship with your customers. And your customers are the life blood of your business. Your terms of business will be specific to your business and should be tailored like a suit. Not having any at all, is like walking around the business world butt naked. Get a tailored suit and it will last for the eternity of your business.

God’s terms will last for eternity and so should yours
The 10 Commandments will last for eternity and are etched on most people’s minds. Your job as a business owner is to make sure your payment terms are etched on your customer’s minds. The best way to do that is to write them down, and hand them to the customer before you start the work – just as God did to Moses.

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Article Tags: business growth, business owners, cashflow, creditors



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Re: Interrealtionship between financial statements - That means the entire concepts are a mere entries. The entries should go into certain heads. How do we reduce outflow and cut down expenses? It should improve the cashflow. Thanks, Robert
Re: Your Gmail Account can be hacked! - Hi Ideasuniversity, Many thanks for your info. I wonder how many have benefited from it. There is a story in the Bible, where 10 people have been healed, but only one returned to say 'Thank you'. Oh, I don't want to boast about myself. I am glad for everybody who can improve their life in one way or another. Be blessed
Re: Spend Wisely to Save Money - Hi ideasuniversity, But can we really afford to tie up our cashflow and carry all of that excess inventory? For instance, when I leased my car in 2003, I could've paid for it in cash and saved myself about $3000 in leasing fees (after 4 years). However, I chose not to because I didn't want to tie up my savings like that.
Re: Video: Was America Ever a White Nation? - Does it really matter? At least if we believe the Bible every race came out of Adam and Eve. The people of this earth stem from just one lineage
Re: The most common names on Facebook - Thanks Yinka, It's interesting to see that every one of the boys name is straight out of the English Bible, and the one girl's name is the Latin or Romance language version of Mary. David (2nd most popular name!)


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