Business: how to switch from red to green?

As painful as they are, crises are favorable to positive change. It is the same for businesses. 

When all the lights start to turn red, the entrepreneur asks with dismay what to do to get by and avoid the worst. 

Fortunately, there are solutions! 

Here are 11 actions to be taken immediately. Apply without asking yourself too many questions can you avoid having to pass one day the doors of a Commercial Court. 

1 - Start by putting your nose in the books. Take a blank sheet of paper and draw two columns: 

- The first indicating all amounts payable in the short term and medium term (1 year). Make the addition of this column, it represents your debts. What you need ... Put yourself out this figure in mind, it is THE reality. 

- The second column indicate the receivables (invoices, credit ...). 

The figures under the eyes, take good situational awareness, accept it as such. This is the best way to truly aware of the problem and take action to find solutions. 

2 - Stop spending money. Stop or at least restrict all disbursements immediately. Make a merciless hunt for waste and always ask yourself the questions: "Is this necessary? Can we do without and what are the consequences? ". 

3 - Take control of cash and follow it with the greatest attention every day. You should always know where the money goes, how allocation. For example, building maintenance may be done in-house or do you go through a cleaning business? 

4 - Rééchelonnez liabilities. Moratorium on settlement or partial abandonment of claims against cash, well conducted operations are extremely efficient. 

5 - Evaluate the performance of your staff for each department (administrative, technical and productive, commercial). For the survival of the company, certainly positions will be eliminated and dismissals without delay. 

6 - Take the money back out. In terms of recovery, only hard work and discipline are paying off. 

7 - Renegotiate your long-term contracts (rental, leasing) and if possible, try to restructure your long-term bank debt. 

8 - Sell the non-productive assets (office equipment, computers, old machines) and a maximum stockade. 

9 - Reduce or remove your advertising budget, you keep only those related with certain clients and money. 

10 - Reduce your expenses and operating costs. Substantial savings can be easily achieved (office supplies, maintenance contracts, landlines and mobile phone ...). 

11 - Finally, the sinews of war, establish a cash flow forecast in the short and medium term. It must be realistic, reliable, and most importantly, you lead an obsession that should be yours: to overcome your debts and regain a healthy situation in your accounts.