Tweet

Small Business Cashflow Crisis? Have a Sale!

Guest post by: Jennifer Davey

Article Overview: Offering a sale price on your products is a quick and easy way to bring in fast short-term revenue to get you through a cash flow crunch or just bring in those extra dollars for a super vacation.

Small Business Cashflow Crisis? Have a Sale!



The other day I was speaking with a client who was in the midst of a cashflow crisis. Her high-six-figure business had funds coming down the pipeline, but they weren’t going to hit her bank account as quickly as she needed them to. After brainstorming, we had the solution: it was time for a sale.

Offering a sale price on your products is a quick and easy way to bring in fast short-term revenue to get you through a cash flow crunch or just bring in those extra dollars for a super vacation.

There are a few basic rules for sales:

1. You should NEVER have a sale on your one-on-one time.

2. Sales should have a clear and limited time period (a week, two weeks tops).

3. You must have a reason for the sale.

4. Limit the amount of sales you offer per year (or else you will hurt overall sales).

5. Send advance notices to your affiliates.

There are a million and one reasons to have a sale. Here are a few to get you started:

• Highlight a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary.

• Have a holiday sale (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.).

• Sell products that have been returned or are slightly damaged.

• Sell an older version of something as a “clearance.”

• Have a “Thank You” sale.

The scarcity of your sales offering (and if the amount of the item is limited, this helps too) gets those clients who were putting off purchasing your product to jump off the fence and take advantage of the fantastic opportunity.

Related Articles
  Small Business loans to help dwindling cashflow
  9 Ways To Increase Cash Flow For Small Business Growth
  Indirect Contribution
  Rebuilding Your Finances After an Economic Crisis
  Passive Income Opportunities for Cashflow Club Members
  Vendor Finance Schemes - Benefits To Your Sales Team - Quick Guide
  Do You Know Where Your Disaster Recovery Plan Is
  Leverage as the Cause of the Global Financial Crisis
  In a time of crisis, PR is your greatest asset
  What Are the Factors That Lead to an Economic Crisis?
  How To Get Paid
  The Fundamentals of Crisis Communications
  Crisis Communications Planning or What To Do Before During Or After It Hits The Fan
  Economic Crisis Affects Our Coffee Production Industry
  Reputation Preservation in a Crisis
  Managing Crises Before They Happen
  Crisis Management
  What is Your Exit Strategy?
  Owning Your Own Business - Go Big or Go Small
  “Crisis Management Planning – What’s Happening Where We Work?”

Article Tags: attract clients, get clients, need clients, want clients



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Biz Plan Competition - i just wanted to say that posting Small Business Events on CanadaOne is a great resource. Thanks Julie!
Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com - Current site for sale of our handbook as a Clickbank product Welcome any and all feedback: Sale page Content Handbook Content Pricing Too Big Considering braking it to 2 volumes: Avoiding Scams Online and Doing Business Online and maybe ad 3rd volume related internet technology Kind of like selling preventive medicine!! Thank you in advance for your interest and comments


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Promoting your company and self with verve

The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

Designing Employee-Enhancing Training Programs

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.