If you’re the CEO, MD, or the unofficial Chief Firefighter of your business, congrats. You’re also the Head of Cash Flow. Nobody asked if you wanted the job.
Cash is the oxygen of your business. Run out of cash, and your business will crash.
It’s not a bad quarter. It’s lights out. Curtains. Done.
The good news? Fixing cash flow doesn’t mean slashing jobs or grovelling to the bank for another lifeline.
It means getting smart about the 7 levers already sitting inside your business. And they are the same for every business. These levers have been proven across 80,000+ businesses worldwide.
All types.
All sizes.
Every industry.
They work whether you sell plumbing services or artisan dog treats.
Adjust each one by just 1% or 1 day.
One lousy per cent. And you can turn a crashflow into a cashflow.
So let’s get into it.
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Lever 1: Price. You’re charging less than you’re worth.
You know it. Your accountant knows it.
Even your dog knows it.
Increasing your prices by just 1% without losing customers can boost your cash more than slashing expenses or making more sales ever could.
If you’re delivering value, stop apologising for it. Seriously.
Nobody ever won a trophy for being the second cheapest in the market.
And definitely don’t try to be the cheapest unless your costs are dramatically lower than everyone else’s.
For about 60% of the companies we see, price has 8 times more impact on the bottom line than volume.
Eight. Times.
So before you chase another hundred leads, maybe just charge what the work is actually worth.
Our Profit Multiplier can show you in seconds exactly what a 1, 2 or more % increase will give you, and we’ll show you how many customers you can afford to lose to keep you in front.
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Lever 2: Volume. You don’t need to go viral. You need 1% more of what you’re already selling.
No 10x overnight fantasies.
No “scale to the moon” nonsense.
Just sell 1% more of what you’re already selling and see what happens
Improve your conversions.
Upsell more often.
Make it easier for customers to buy again.
Get them to buy 3 times a year instead of 2.
More volume = more dollars in the bank. But only if your margins hold up.
But there is one trap that nobody talks about.
Your customer acquisition cost plus your marginal working capital must be less than your operating margin.
Otherwise, you’ll grow broke faster than you can say “Find Me My Money.”
Growing broke is a real thing. The faster you grow, the tighter the money gets.
It kills profitable businesses every day.
You can be busy, booked out, turning over millions, and still not be able to make payroll on Thursday.
Fun times.
Not.
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Lever 3: Cost of Goods Sold. Your margins are bleeding. You might not even feel it yet.
If you’re overpaying for materials, labour, or suppliers, it’s your cash that’s bleeding out. Slowly.
Quietly. Like a transport supplier you forgot to price check.
Can you negotiate better deals? Streamline your process? Reduce rework or waste?
Even small efficiencies here free up real dollars. How do you shave 1% from your COGS this quarter? (We’ve got a great tip further down)
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Lever 4: Operating Expenses. That software subscription from 2019? Yeah, it’s still billing you.
Go on. Open your bank statement or even better your credit card statement.
We’ll wait.
Got subscriptions nobody uses?
Software licences from the Jurassic era?
A CRM that three people log into and nobody actually updates?
You don’t need one silver bullet.
Look for those “thousand small cuts.”
Small changes that stack over time.
A 1% reduction in operating costs can mean hundreds or thousands flowing back into your bank account each month.
We built a free tool for exactly this.
The Expense Chopper. Load your expenses from your P&L into the workbook and it helps you cut fat, not muscle.
Grab your copy from our Free Tools section.
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Lever 5: Accounts Receivable. You’re not an ATM, so stop acting like one
Stop funding your customers’ cash flow.
The longer it takes to collect from customers, the more cash gets trapped in your business.
Your cash.
Sitting in their bank account.
Earning them interest.
While you’re lying awake at 2am doing mental arithmetic.
Shorten your debtor days.
Send invoices faster.
Offer early payment incentives.
Follow up like clockwork.
Because your sales don’t count until your cash hits your account.
Say that again for the people in the back.
Work out how much a single day of debtors is costing you.
Saving 3 days in your collection can easily drop $10k into your bank.
Fast.
And Hell Yeah, we have a free tool for that too.
The Money Collector Machine can work all this out for you in seconds.
Grab your copy from our Free Tools.
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Lever 6: Inventory / Work in Progress. Your inventory is cash, wearing a costume
For many businesses, especially product-based ones, inventory is the biggest cash suck going.
If you’ve got stock gathering dust or jobs half-finished and unbilled, you’re strangling your own cash flow.
Small improvements in stock turns, production efficiency, or project completion times make a real difference.
Even invoicing every fortnight rather than once a month.
Work out what a day’s worth of inventory is worth to you. Got enough inventory for 65 days? See how much cash it releases if you can get that down to 59.
Six days. That’s it.
And you’ll see it in your bank balance.
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Lever 7: Accounts Payable. Your suppliers want your money. Make them earn it.
Paying early might win you moral brownie points. It doesn’t help your cash flow.
If you’re a reliable customer, your suppliers want to keep you.
So ask for better terms.
Stretch payments without burning bridges.
Or try this ninja move.
Call your supplier.
Tell them you’ve got $10,000 ready to pay their invoice today, but you’ve got two suppliers wanting the same amount.
You’re happy to pay it to them right now, but why should you pay them faster instead of the other supplier?
Make them bid against themselves for the discount. (and that discount is the same as reducing your COGS)
That discount goes straight to your bottom line.
You’re welcome.
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All these levers compound.
Tiny shifts.
1% and 1 day changes that stack up to massive results.
A 1% improvement across all 7 levers doesn’t give you 7% improvement.
It compounds.
We call it 1+1=19.
The key is knowing which lever to pull first.
And how hard to pull it.
That’s what we do in the “Shut Up and Find Me My Money” workshop.
We dive into YOUR numbers.
We find the cash that’s trapped in YOUR business.
And hand you your clear, tailored Roadmap to Your Riches.
One lever.
One percent or one day.
One serious cash injection.
Because staying Cash Stressed is now a choice.
Being Money Blessed?
That’s the plan.
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So what’s your best next move?
Find out how Cash Stressed you really are by taking your free Healthchek Cash Stressed Assessment.
It’s like a 5-minute full-body checkup for your business.
In under 5 minutes, you’ll get your Cash Stressed score so you know where you stand.
Then apply for your “Shut Up and Find Me My Money” workshop, and together, we’ll release the money that’s trapped in your business.
$50,000 in a day. Or we pay you $5k.
Take your free Healthchek Cash Stressed Assessment here.
