I recently read a funny quote, “As a small business owner, I sleep like a baby. I go to bed at 8 PM and wake up at midnight screaming.” I don’t know who said that, but I can relate, and I bet I’m not the only one.  Here is a list of some of the ‘buttons’ that cause entrepreneurs sleepless nights.

1) Cash flow – We all know that ‘Cash is King’. Most small businesses that go out of business do so because of one little issue; they ran out of cash. If you cannot keep the cash flowing then you will struggle to keep the business open, much less growing. In order to keep track of your cash flow you will need to educate yourself on how to read a cash flow statement. Keep an eye on, and consistently review the things that affect your cash flow.

2) Help in slow cash flow periods – There are options to help if you find that your cash flow is not keeping up with business. If you hit a rough spot, there are financial alternatives such as factoring receivables. Firms such as American Funding Solutions offer alternative financial solutions to the standard banking loan options. If you have not been in business long enough to establish credit worthiness, by traditional banking standards, then receivables factoring may be your answer to slow cash flow. By factoring your receivables you can have funds readily available for keeping the cash flowing and your business growing

3) Generating revenue – it is essential for the well being of your business, to implement a method that consistently creates customers for your goods or services. Networking, social media, marketing and advertising are just a few of the tools that need to be in your revenue generating arsenal. It is imperative that you turn prospects into customers, customers into fans, and fans into loyal referral sources.

4) Billing your clients – how many times have you awakened in the middle of the night with the realization that you forgot to invoice your client/customer? It is necessary to implement a method that will allow you to regularly bill your clients. If you are not collecting at the time of service, you need to establish a practice of billing at specific intervals. I find it works for me to invoice my clients on the 15^th and 30^th of every month. I simply put a recurring reminder on my calendar to review my client list for invoicing twice a month.