How do I keep going when I have $5000 in the bank?

Dear Aunty B,

My cash has slowed to a trickle. Big companies are blatantly telling us not to expect money for 120 days. As a result I now have $5000 in the bank and while I am expecting money to come in, it is nerve racking.

I am waking up in a sweat but feel I have no power to remonstrate with these giants. Cash flow was bad when we started the business,but I never imagined it would get worse.

How do I keep going, because I totally believe in the future of this business?

Luke F,
North Sydney

Dear Luke,

Didn’t you know that you recently became a bank as well as a tax collector? Your role, Luke, isn’t to run your own business, innovate, export and create jobs and financial freedom for yourself. It is in fact to provide services and money to big businesses. Soon, if the Government makes employers like you pay for maternity leave, you can add yet more services to your portfolio as you take on “family support”.

In fact, you are almost an entire services industry on your own! So what’s keeping you awake at night? Just change your business’s mission to this: “To provide the community with essential services so everyone else has a great life!” That way you will gain immense satisfaction from working 60 hours plus a week and putting everything on the line to build your business.

Look, Luke, you will keep going because you HAVE to keep going. Many highly successful entrepreneurs have been exactly where you are now. You will survive it and you will emerge stronger as a result.

Start to look though your expenses and see where you can cut. Put in place some financial back-up – can you get a bank facility to help you out? Ask your accountant to run through your affairs and maybe build in a buffer so you don’t come so close to the edge again.

Above all, don’t panic. Keep a cool head, don’t drink (too much) and stay healthy. Go for a walk when you get home from the office with your wife and don’t talk about work. Learn some relaxation techniques to do if you wake up at night.

You won’t solve anything at night that you can’t solve in the day. so don’t think about work in bed!

Hold your nerve!

Your Aunty B