Starting Out
What has to exist before you can legally take money
The list of things that must be in place before a first payment is shorter than the folklore suggests, but…
· 4 min read
Nikhil Bose
Consumer editor, Biz Wealth Focus
Nikhil joined to cover starting out, pricing, cash flow and stayed for the awkward questions and would rather show the working than assert the conclusion.
18 articles
Starting Out
The first sale tells you more than the first plan does
A plan is a set of assumptions nobody has tested, and the cheapest available test is asking one person to…
· 4 min read
Starting Out
Buying equipment before there is revenue is a bet on a customer who has not appeared
Startup spending feels like preparation and is usually a wager, and the way to tell which is which is to…
· 4 min read
Pricing
Half of a self-employed week is not billable, and the rate has to know it
The hours that produce no invoice are not waste to be eliminated; they are a real cost of production, and…
· 3 min read
Pricing
Say the number and then stop talking
Most of the money lost in pricing is lost in the thirty seconds after the price is stated, and the…
· 3 min read
Cash Flow
Payment terms are a loan you did not decide to make
Agreeing to be paid some weeks after delivery means financing your client for that period, and the…
· 4 min read
Cash Flow
What a business buffer is for, and how to size one
A reserve inside the business does a different job from personal savings, and working out how big it needs…
· 4 min read
Clients
The handover is part of the work, not the end of it
How a project is closed determines whether it produces a referral, a return visit or a series of unpaid…
· 3 min read
The Admin
Separating business and personal money is a clarity decision first
Whether a separate account is legally required depends on where you are and how you are structured, but the…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
The businesses you depend on are a risk you chose without noticing
Almost every small business has a handful of suppliers it could not easily replace, and that exposure…
· 4 min read
Pricing
Publishing your prices decides who gets in touch
Putting numbers where buyers can see them filters enquiries before they arrive, which is a considerable…
· 3 min read
Pricing
Being paid in exposure is being paid in a promise
Offers of visibility, future work or a recommendation instead of money are offers of something real, and…
· 3 min read
Cash Flow
The client who pays late every time is a financing arrangement
Chronic lateness from the same customer is not a series of accidents to be chased individually but a…
· 3 min read
Clients
Saying no to work you could perfectly well do
Turning down a job you are capable of and available for feels like refusing money, and the ability to do it…
· 3 min read
Clients
The work you lost will tell you why, if you ask properly
A quote that goes nowhere is the most common outcome in a small business and the least examined, and the…
· 3 min read
The Admin
Buying help is a different decision from hiring somebody
Handing a task to another business removes the work without creating an employer, and for most very small…
· 3 min read
The Admin
Buying something to reduce a tax bill still costs more than not buying it
Spending money to lower a liability reduces the liability by only a portion of what was spent, which makes…
· 3 min read
The Admin
Information about other people is a responsibility that arrives with the work
Almost every small business ends up holding details about customers and sometimes about their customers…
· 3 min read