small business help

Is cash flow management a problem for your small business? Having enough cash to pay suppliers when due is a common issue, especially in times of

a cash flow management a problem

growth when you could be building up inventories. In her article No substitute for cash in the till, Dianne Buckner shares one company’s success with accepting prepayments as part of their business model and strategy for cash flow management. A problem no more for MacMarr, here’s what they have achieved.

Is cash flow management a problem? perhaps accepting prepayments could be an option

“Guitars are the whole basis of our business,” says Marr. “We can’t have a day when a bill is due from one of our suppliers and say, ‘Sorry, I don’t have the money.’ No guitars means no sales — and that would mean no company, real fast.”

But after a customer offered to pre-pay for his guitar purchase, even though the delivery was months away, Marr found himself thinking “I hope there’s a lot more customers out there who think like that.”

He and MacKenzie promptly put a notice on their website, promoting pre-payment in exchange for free delivery. Normally customers pay $35 for delivery anywhere in Canada. The response to the new offer was so positive, that Marr now estimates 25 per cent of their clientele pay up front. The strategy turned MacKenzie and Marr’s cash-flow problem into a solution. [Read more…]

I’ve come across a great article on tips for good small business web design. Written by Craig Reardon from Smart Company there 6 are factors to consider when developing, or having someone develop for you, your small business website. And why are these tips for good small business web design important? Here’s Craig’s view:

It’s a well-known fact that smaller businesses are far more susceptible to costs arising from poor web design than their

Tips for good small business web design

deeper-pocketed competitors.

Because if an issue does arise with their website, unlike larger business, they are less likely to have either the financial power to overcome the issue or the time taken to properly research and manage a solution to it.

As a result, many smaller business operators “put up” with a dated or ineffective website simply because they can’t afford the time or money to rectify it. You only need to conduct a search of a smaller business category to witness the number of sites that fit this description.

Tips for good small business web design

Basically the 6 factors ( in summary ) are:

[list style=”arrow”]
- Presentation, yes how a website looks is important to get readers engaged, but……
- Communication. Its the content , which keep users on the site
- Techinal features. How easy is it to move around the site.
- Usability, both for customers and website administrators
- Maintainability. Is the website administrator able to make changes quickly and easily to keep the site looking up to date
- Scalability. Growth is an important aspect of most small businesses, and websites need to be able to grow with the business. This could be the addition of new features etc.
[/list]

I think one factor overlooked by many small business owners is scalability. Craig puts it well here:

A scalable (or extensible) website platform will save you a very considerable sum on the technology features you will require as your requirements and visitor demands grow.

A good web professional will build or provide your website in a way to be able to add new features very affordably as you need them. But others might conveniently neglect this capability and charge what can be large amounts to add them “after the fact”.

Of the six website attributes, this is the one that will keep your website affordable as your needs grow and avoid the issues raised above.

So when you are looking to hire a web professional, make sure you check their track record with all of these six attributes and not just the one that can make your website look good. To view the full post click here

Have you previously considered the factors outlined in our tips for good small business web design? Or have you had any issues with websites that have not lived up to your expectations or any more to add we would love to here your stories.