How To Avoid Turning Down Business

No one likes to turn down business, but without an obviously way forward it’s what a lot of small businesses ran by novices do. Inexperience as a business owner or entrepreneur can result in a lack of vision and planning for the business including how it can scale which can result in a loss of sales. Businesses that have just happened and thus don’t have a well thought out business plan can quickly become a victim of their own success. All it takes is large order or multiple orders to halt the business in it’s tracks. There are many reasons growth is an impediment to the health of your business especially if there’s no plan nor strategy to cope with the requirement for more resources.

Lack of staff

Not having enough staff is one of the main reasons a company is forced to turn down work and without the financial resources to staff up so to speak new business goes begging. However there are alternatives to taking on full time staff. Using a temp or contracting agency while expensive over the long term offers a good opportunity to staff up quickly and if they work out the increase in business should fund a more permanent hire arrangement. Alternatively, you could look to the staff you already have to work overtime – keeping your existing staff motivated may be more productive than hiring outside help in the interim stages of the increase in workload.

Premises are at capacity

Another reason why you may be reluctant to take on more work is that your existing premises are at capacity and thus can not accomodate more staff. The obvious answer here is to move to a larger premise but if this is not an option immediately due to finances or it’s just impractical consider a clean out. Decluttering your premises and using a revised layout is sure to provide space you never knew you had. During the clean out transfer any physical files onto a digital database, and consider external storage facilities for samples, products or stock.

Can’t afford the additional investment to fulfil orders

If your business lacks the cash reserves to fulfil additional work brought by growth in your business then using Trade Finance may be the answer. Trade Finance (sometimes referred to as purchase order finance) ensures the orders can be completed. The funds provided meet the needs of your business to supply the product or service for a single or multiple orders.

In order to fulfil the requirements from your customer, you need the goods from your supplier. You speak to your supplier and they request payment up front which is too high to cover. The lender covers the costs through purchase order finance, and the trade finance lender pays the suppliers and allows you to deliver the goods to your customers. The profits go to you, and the customer pays the balance of the invoice, paying off the lender which also includes pre-arranged fees. The rest of the cash is your profit.

So, in the future do not let these obstacles get in the way of your business taking on more work and potentially increasing your profit margins. The solutions are out there and are more attainable than you may think, just keep an open mind and do not be afraid to look to external help to deal with the extra workload.