(Note: This is the third installment in a five-part series on improving your cash flow. Here are the first and second parts.)
In addition to reassessing their suppliers and incentivizing customers to settle their invoices earlier, businesses can strengthen their cash flow by making use of the latest digital tools and technologies.
No matter the size of a company, modern technology can have truly a transformative effect on operations. With the right tools, tasks become easier, and employees are able to reclaim time from their days. Altogether, this enables small businesses to compete more effectively.
While business owners grappling with cash flow problems might be hesitant to invest their capital in anything at all, never forget the old adage: You’ve got to spend money in order to make it.
By investing in the right technologies, managers give their workers the tools they need to succeed in today’s fast-paced business environment. This, in turn, improves cash flow, as employees become more productive and can take on more work. They can also provide better customer service.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at three technological investments small businesses can make that will assuredly make their cash flow healthier:
- Cloud computing. Rather than spending money building in-house computing infrastructure—and absorbing the costs relating to storing it, running it and maintaining it—many businesses are taking advantage of the cost savings found in the cloud. By migrating to the cloud, small businesses also enjoy a slew of other benefits, including redundancy, scalability and availability. The cloud offers more functionality at a reduced price point, allowing small businesses to reduce their expenses and improve their cash flow without compromising their capabilities.
- Mobility. The cloud promises access to data, communications and apps from any connected device in any location. To truly extend cloud investments, businesses need to concurrently invest in mobility. In doing so, they enable their employees to get work done anywhere they happen to be. Clients’ calls and emails get answered immediately—from the office, from the cafe and from the airport. Mobility enhances productivity, thereby improving cash flow.
- Collaboration tools. After investing in the cloud and mobility, small businesses should shop around for the right unified communications solutions and collaboration tools that help employees stay on the same page even when they’re not in the same building, city or time zone. These platforms centralize all communications on one interface, giving employees the ability to respond to each other’s questions, ideas and updates in real time. Collaboration tools accelerate decision making. Fewer dollars are spent to get things done, which means businesses have more cash in the bank.
In our next installment in this series, we’ll turn our attention to invoice financing and how you can use invoice-financing to restore life to your business’ cash flow. You won’t want to miss it!
