How to Read a Slow Month
A quiet month is three completely different problems wearing the same clothes, and the worst thing you can do is treat it as the one that frightens you most.
Should You Take Card Payments?
The argument against cards is a number you can see. The argument for them is a number you cannot, which is why most people get this decision backwards.
What to Do in the Off-Season
A seasonal business does not stop having costs when it stops having revenue. Pricing as though the year is nine months long is the single most common mistake in seasonal trades.
Should You Take a Deposit?
A deposit is not a way of being paid earlier. It is protection against two specific risks, and if a job carries neither of them you are adding friction for nothing.
How Much Should You Set Aside for Taxes?
The single most common cash-flow failure in a small business is not overspending. It is spending money that was never yours, because nothing about it looked different from the money that was.
How to Write an Invoice That Gets Paid Faster
Most late payment is not a customer refusing to pay. It is an invoice that was easy to set aside. A handful of details decide which kind of invoice yours is.
A Customer Hasn't Paid. Now What?
One bad debt and one bad habit look identical on a list of invoices. They look completely different once the money is bucketed by how late it is - and they need completely different responses.