Cash Glow™

Lately when I've been speaking to fellow business owners, at some point or other during the conversation, the topic invariably veers towards cash flow and business finances. To clarify, they generally raise the topic from their side, it's not a subject that I would willingly chat about from my side. Finances are a deeply personal matter and accounting was not my strong suit at university, so I avoid any talk about finance related things as far as possible (look out for the July issue of Leadership Magazine, I included a whole section on my accounting woes in there.)

When it comes to finances, it is such an important building block for any business. It is one of the core building blocks of an organisation's reputation, be it a large organisation that needs to declare dividends, or a one-man-show that needs cash in the bank to pay suppliers. A lack of transparency of funds or cash will impact how you are perceived and ultimately your reputation. It does not matter how many investments you have, if you don't have cash in the bank it equates to a lot of stress.

Interestingly, with all of these conversations I have also picked up a number of interesting finance-related articles one of which is on invoicing. This is an article that you may like as well: 3 Tips for Designing an Invoice That Gets You Paid Promptly.

I hate having to follow-up on payments due, so I've had to find ways to avoid that awkward conversation to get our invoices paid on time. Here are my ten tips:

1. Invest in a really good accountant. Accounting is not creative. Ever. (Refer to my first business lesson: Account for the Taxman);
2. Ideally get payment before doing the work. An incredibly dynamic business owner that I have a high regard for, explained it really well: you need to pay for your groceries before you leave the store, you don't pay for the food only once you've eaten it. Why bill for your products / services any differently?  
3. Invest in a proper accounting package, be it Pastel or Quickbooks.  Excel is OK for a start, but a proper system makes a world of difference;
4. For invoices that go out on a regular basis, or that don't get paid upfront; send them out early in the month. We want payment by the 25th of the month, so we send out invoices by the 16th. I have heard that some businesses send theirs out even earlier in the month. My experience has been that a week in advance is sufficient for most customers;
5. In the past we only sent the first reminder out the day before payment was due. In the Entrepreneurship article (above), they recommend that you send the first reminder three days before payment is due. What I also like is that they say that you need to remind the customer of what was delivered and the agreed upon terms;
6. If we don't receive payment on the date agreed upon, the person working on the account then follows up with the customer. Fortunately, this happens very rarely;
7. If payment is not received by the last day of the month, I get involved by making a phone call. Again, fortunately this is rarely necessary.
8. With that said, late payments do get an interest fee added the next time the invoice goes out; it is communicated and agreed with customers on commencement of projects.  The bank does not think twice about charging a percentage on an over draft account, so why should we carry that cost?
9. Sticking to the process is important so that everyone on our side and the clients' side knows what to expect and what to do;
10. Something that is also important, is to acknowledge the payment and to thank the customer for the payment; 

What tips do you have when it comes to invoicing and getting paid on time?

Book: The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. It was recommended in one of the other books that I had read, so was very pleased to stumble upon it at the Princess Christian bookshop in Pretoria.

It is all about Gretchen Rubin's experiment of doing things a bit differently, making small changes to be happier. As she says, it is not that she was unhappy or depressed, but wanted to explore whether she would be happier by making small changes. Each chapter is a month of the year where she implemented changes.

I like her conversational writing style. The book really resonated with me, ultimately everyone is on a path in search of happiness. Gretchen did not want to go on a sabbatical or go to India to try and find herself, but did get a lot more joy out of things that she did on a daily basis. As she says, everyone's happiness project will be different, however there definitely are a couple of things that she did that I am trying and keen to explore further. For example, she really likes children's literature and started a children's lit book club with her friends with a similar interest. I have no intention or desire to start such a book club, but it did get me thinking about the books that I grew up with. So, the last time I visited my Mom I brought "Brolloks & Bittergal" by CJ Langenhoven back home. I must admit that I am looking forward to re-explore the book. Although with that said, I am quite shocked at how macabre the book is after just reading the first page but more on that another time.

The other daily small change that Gretchen did was to get eight hours sleep. I am trying this, but have not been all that successful. The other thing that she reminds herself to do is to "be Gretchen", I am also using this as a guide to "be Regine", and to focus on what I truly want to do and what I really like, not what I think I should like or should be doing.

Over the last couple of years my life has become a lot more goal orientated, which I really enjoy - isn't it terrific to tick things off the to do list? Someone had told me that you should not have resolutions, because it is not something you stick to. However Gretchen explains it quite nicely by saying that you "hit a goal and keep a resolution". One of the things that I want to do a lot more of this year is to laugh, be spontaneous and to have fun. You can't really have these as a goal, it's not something you can tick off, so I like the idea of having it as a resolution, something which is ongoing.

Some of the things I am already doing that she writes about (*air punch*), e.g. tackling a nagging task. Ever since reading Tim Ferriss' The 4-hour Work Week, I have been scheduling my diary differently to focus on one task that has been on the 'to do' list for way too long before going through daily e-mails. I feel a lot more productive, and I can attest to the fact that ticking off that nagging task definitely contributes to one's overall happiness. The other thing is to enjoy the moment and to be more mindful of the present moment. Another thing is to stimulate your mind in different new ways. At the beginning of the year (again after The 4-hour work week) - I set myself a goal to learn Xhosa and have a five minute conversation at the end of the year. (So far, this is going very slowly, I have however invested in an audio book and am enjoying the challenge of getting my tongue around all the different clicks.

The days are long but the years are short - why would / could / should we not all strive to be happier every day?

This is a highly recommendable read. 10/10

___

This is an interesting article that was published in 'The Times' newspaper on Monday, 25 May 2015 on the difference that eight hours of sleep has one people. The photo below shows Jodie Kidd with only six hours of sleep on the left and eight hours on the right.



The full article is below:

Be for spontaneity

Isn’t it interesting how quickly we get into comfort zones? I will be the first to admit that I don’t like change. This I know, and am aware of, is very much in contradiction to everything business owner-related, where we live, work and breath in a constantly changing environment.

I like structure, planning and having a routine; this does admittedly sound incredibly boring, but there is something comforting in the predictability of it all. Although…with that said, one of my goals this year is to consciously be more spontaneous, truth be told I am actively planning to be more spontaneous! (…and to laugh more, we have all become way too serious; there is something incredibly liberating and therapeutic about a good belly laugh).

Through spontaneous activities you open yourself up to treasures the world has to offer, and amazing experiences you would have missed out on if you had not forced yourself out of that comfort zone. I am definitely trying to be more spontaneous and mindful of enjoying the moment more.

Take the other day as an example, Freedom Day. The Better Half and I have quite a set routine on our days off,  if surfing is not on the cards for the day, we do tend to slob around the house and catch up on PVR’d programs, treat ourselves to takeaways, and inevitably I end up falling asleep on the coach. But Freedom Day was different. It was one of those glorious autumn days in Cape Town, a chill in the air, with the sun out; it would have been a disgrace to spend the day inside on the coach. Surfing was not great, so after some negotiation and no set plan, we headed to the Company Gardens and ended up at the Cape Town Art Gallery. Here we spent the afternoon analysing, discussing and interpreting different artworks, and an array of black and white photos.

I think to some degree being spontaneous prepares you to take changes that take place, especially in a business context, more in your stride; change then becomes less daunting.  

One of our team members was recently head hunted, a proud moment for me for sourcing the talent, but an incredibly sad one as I was reminded that things do change and new chapters need to be written.

I would be surprised if anyone really loves and embraces change, although with that said, one of my friends an incredibly dynamic HR Director did say the other day over lunch that if she is given the choice between routine and constant change, she would definitely opt for change, that is the only way to grow, develop and to stay ahead of the trend. As much as I find change daunting,  I must agree. Without the pain, discomfort and uncertainty that change brings with it, life would be way too boring if we remained stagnant in our roles.  

What is the most spontaneous thing that you’ve done this year?