Five Non-Cookie Cutter Ways to Boost Your Business Cash Flow

2. What’s Up Good Bookin’? 😍

Channel the energy of every lingering and unwanted look you’ve ever received and unleash it on your books. To really know your business, you need to know your numbers. And while they don’t always tell the whole story, you can’t boost your cash flow without having the financy figures at your fabulous fingertips (good luck saying that five times fast).

What are some of the numbers we want to look for?

• Accounts Receivable: how much are you expecting to come in, and does it match what’s actually happening?
• Accounts Payable: what is set to be going out the door in the near future?
• Inventory Levels: how much have you got sitting on hand, waiting to be sold?
• Payment terms: how long are you giving people to pay you, and how long are they taking?
• WIP (your hair back and forth): the list of work that’s in progress, or that’s been done, but not invoiced yet.

3. Slide Into Collaborations, Not DMs 💌

Women supporting women is not just a catchphrase around here, because we know firsthand that everything feels possible when you have a community of badass women behind you.

To boost your cash flow, is there a way you could team up with a fellow business-owner boss to create mutual value — for each other and for your clients or customers? Perhaps offering exclusive discounts to each other’s client bases, running a cross-promotion, or coming up with a profit-share service — all powerful for injecting cash flow, but also deepening your relationships and referral pathways.

For example: maybe you are a branding expert. Could you pair up with a web designer to offer a wham bam ‘website slay package’? Or perhaps you’re a solicitor. Could you team up with a mortgage broker and a buyer’s agent to create a seamless pathway for clients to buy their first (or next) home? Basically, think of ways you can create an ‘old boys club’, but way better and more transparent.

Lastly on this point, if we’ve learned anything over 15 years in business, it’s that: relationships matter.

Building and maintaining strong relationships with your customers, suppliers, referral partners, and even the people who make your morning coffee can lead to better payment terms, increased loyalty, and more referrals. Good relationships can reduce the chances of late payments or defaults, and help you achieve a much steadier cash flow.

Moral of the story, no (wo)man is an island, and you can’t do business alone — so, cultivate a network of business BFFs.

5. Set it on Fire or Hose it Down 🚒

Our final tip is kind of a two-in-one because we are nothing if not over-deliverers. If you need cash fast, here are two more emergency levers you can pull:

🔥 Set the Sales on Fire — have a flash sale offer a discounted product or service for a brief period and create a sense of scarcity and urgency that draws attention and gives you a cash influx when you need it.

💧 Hose it All Down — boosting cash flow isn’t just about increasing sales; sometimes it’s about controlling and reducing spending. Look for temporary or drastic ways to limit the damage with an audit of all your operating expenses, and put the fires out.

If you’re thinking of going the fire sale route, first and foremost: be clear on why you’re holding a fire sale. Clearing the decks to make way for new? Car or computer broke down and you need a new one immediately? Going in a different direction and wanting to share the love? If significant assets are being sold off, it can signal to the market that there are rocky seas, and it might affect future business, the perceived value of your goods and services, or potential future collaborations.