Recently I came across an excellent blog from a dynamic lady, Nicky Jurd. She owns and operates a web development company with her patner Kaj, she is a writer and great public speaker. Nicky started a blog a while back that is filled with a host of information that will help any business to build their online presence in a professional and highly effective manner. The tips that are suggested are easy to understand and logical and the best thing about Nicky’s blog in my opinion, is that it isn’t filled with techno speak that means nothing to the vast majority of people. If you need some help when it comes to getting more business online – make this blog a regular site. Nicky Jurd’s Blog

Some people are just too hard to have as customers and I think that there are times when the old saying, the customer is always right, is really wrong. One of the biggest reasons that I have for being in my own business is so that I can decide whom I do business with and whom I don’t.

When meeting clients for the first time I look at it as an interview – for them and for me. I listen to my gut instinct to get a feel for the client. Are we on the same wavelength, are they clear on what they want, do I think we can work together? If I can’t say yes to the above, then I prefer to be upfront and honest rather than trying to make it work. So I suggest that they go elsewhere.

Over the years that I have been consulting I have really learned to be a good judge of character. I am pretty good at identifying whom I can work with and whom I can’t. It saves me a lot of time, energy and heartache to work this out in the beginning, rather than try and make the relationship work, only to have it end in tears somewhere down the line, as it inevitably seems when I go against my gut instinct.

Likewise there are times when a relationship with a client changes and no longer works. If they keep haggling over price, or become unreasonably demanding or don’t communicate effectively, it is time to move on. I have done “sacked” clients on a number of occasions. It was very satisfying and it really gave me a sense of self-respect.

My marketing company used to have the advertising account for a large shopping centre. It was the account that everyone in town wanted. It was lots of work and the right amount of prestige to make me feel good about it. But the client was extremely demanding, needing everything in very short and generally unrealistic time frames. They constantly bartered with us to get the work done cheaper and often they were very slow to pay.

So I did a review of the account and came up with some interesting realisations:

1. We didn’t actually make any profit out of the account.
2. It stressed everyone out in the office.
3. We couldn’t take on more profitable work because all of our resources were tied up with this one account.
4. We had no long-term security, as the client would not sign a contract.

Having done that review, I made the decision to resign the account. It was one of the smartest business moves I have ever made. I replaced this account with four new clients, generating four times the revenue for the same energy input. Don’t get me wrong – to resign this account I was saying goodbye to over seventy percent of the businesses monthly income. But it was profitless volume, that had little or no satisfaction and ultimately I would lose my best staff out of frustration with managing the account.

My point here is clear. Some customers aren’t worth having. If they cost you more in energy, time and satisfaction than they bring in, say goodbye in the nicest possible way.

There are two kinds of businesses – those that have had money problems and those that will have money worries. It is a simple fact of doing business. I have a good friend of mine of who has been in business for over thirty years. About five years ago he almost went broke, at the age of 55. I was amazed at how calmly he told me this story. Today he is the major shareholder and CEO of a company that turns over $300 Million. That is the fickle nature of doing business. I have had financial ups and downs over the years and I expect to have more. That said, I have learned a few tips and about avoiding money problems and dealing with them when I have them.

Here are a few of my tips for avoiding money problems:

1. Keep great records and have an excellent bookkeeper.
2. Know exactly how much it costs to run your business each day, month and year. This gives you are target to aim for.
3. Learn to manage your cash flow – it will break you if you don’t manage it properly.
4. Don’t spend the money before it arrives. You haven’t got it till it is in your account.
5. Work out if you are making money on the products or services you are selling. We often think we are but on closer inspection we are not.

If you do get into financial trouble, which means you are having difficulty paying your bills, use these tips to help out:

1. Be honest with yourself about the situation. Don’t ignore it or believe that some magical thing will happen to fix everything.
2. Get some advice – professional advisors won’t judge you, they are there to help. There are always options even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
3. Talk to a friend or mentor in business – odds on they have been through the same thing and they may be able to give you some really practical and helpful information. Plus it helps to be able to talk about your problems.
4. Communicate what the situation is with your creditors and most importantly what you are doing about it.
5. You often have two very simple choices – reduce expenses or increase income – ideally do both. Look at both to see what you can do. Breaking the situation down into two simple areas to focus on often makes managing the issues much easier.

If you are spending a lot of time and money worrying about money, it really won’t do much except give you an ulcer and turn your hair grey – worrying certainly won’t make the money come in.