If your plans weren’t realistic enough or you’ve been hit by an unexpected downturn, you may have to consider raising further finance. Your bank manager will be looking at your cashflow forecast for three to six months ahead, to run reality checks on the kind of costs you face. Plot this out before the loan interview.

Check check check

• Check your financial records and make sure they are accurate and set up so that it is easy to keep track of income and expenses
• Are your bank accounts set up so that your business bank account is only used solely for the business and there’s no bleed through to personal expenses?
• Do you have a separate account to put aside taxes and levies?
• Check your invoicing. Are you on top of your debtors, invoicing work on completion and chasing up late payers?
• What does your budget look like? Have you set one and are you on track with it?
• Take a look at your expenses. Are there any you can trim? Is it possible to approach your creditors and set up time payment arrangements?

Professional advisors – who can help?

Lastly, are you trying to do all of this yourself? We understand that when money is tight, calling on a professional advisor might seem like a luxury you can’t afford right now. However, sometimes you can’t afford not to. If anything described above rings alarm bells but you just don’t know how to fix it, please let us know. We can help you put together a plan of action.