With 2023 around the corner, you must resolve financial challenges to prevent those from snowballing. Small businesses have fewer employees (ranging between 10 and 49), which impacts the economy a little. Since most businesses are small enterprises, the collective impact is significant. While small businesses may find mistakes less costly than larger organizations, these errors often become more pronounced as businesses scale to enterprise-level operations. With the evolving financial landscape, managing associated risks becomes challenging for small businesses, necessitating preventive measures to develop a more robust strategy for the future.
Common Financial Risks and Challenges for Small Businesses
Small businesses face various financial challenges, but there are seven common hurdles that many businesses face. This section of the article highlights these challenges so you can prepare for those before stepping into 2024.
1. Missing Legal Framework
Saving operational costs and cutting corners are one of the factors that small businesses consider to save money. That is why many small businesses miss legal framework as it costs more to hire lawyers to prepare necessary documents. However, this mistake often proves to be brutal when authorities check. In such matters, ignorance is not an excuse, and it can lead to penalties, which can further increase operations costs. Thus, neglecting the legal framework is not an option, as it has formidable consequences for small businesses.
2. Manual Invoicing Processes
Many small and medium enterprises rely on legacy or disjointed systems to manage their cash flow processes, including invoicing and account management. Using those systems and Excel spreadsheets slows the work processes and delays the customer’s payment due to extended invoicing processes. Erroneous invoices necessitate revising, which compounds delays and bottlenecks in your cash flow. To prevent this issue in 2024, implement invoice automation software, as it can streamline your invoicing processes and make the process accessible from manual data entry. The benefits of this software extend beyond automating invoices; it can also free your finance teams by allowing you to schedule follow-ups and payment reminders to your customers.
3. Maintaining Accurate Tax Records
Tax liability is crucial for smooth business operations, and ignoring this obligation can lead to non-compliance, which may result in hefty fines or penalties, among other adverse consequences. Though a small error in the taxation records can be dealt with, not paying taxes or forging records is extremely dangerous. This is common with many small businesses due to a lack of automation, making recordkeeping tedious. Leveraging technology to get a centralized system will help reduce data inconsistencies while making the recordkeeping system digital so that it can be accessed when required. Even though hiring a professional accountant or having a virtual assistant for recordkeeping is essential.
4. Traditional Payment Collection System
Accounts receivable and payable are two significant pillars in the B2B landscape. Without an effective strategy to handle your cash inflow and outflow, you cannot sustain your cash flow effectively. Traditional systems take longer to receive payment by check and keeping a record of those transactions proves to be challenging. To meet modern-day business requirements, replacing traditional systems with B2B payment automation solutions is essential. Leveraging technology to transform your collection practices can help improve the efficiency of your collection operations while maintaining your cash flow.
5. Payment Convenience for Customers
When customers receive invoices by mail and settle their debts with paper-based checks, it can impede efficiency and lead to negative experiences. This method poses risks of delayed payments and increases the likelihood of fraudulent activities. Embracing a payment automation solution not only boosts efficiency but also enhances customer experiences, all while securing your payment and collection processes.
You can consider streamlining the payment process by providing customers with electronic payment options, ensuring security and convenience. This benefits customers, who find paying more accessible, and finance teams, who can collect payments more efficiently. If you aim to elevate customer experiences and optimize your cash flow, integrating an automation solution into your payment process is essential.
6. Considering Bad Investors
An influx of fresh capital is always a boon for businesses, especially those grappling with cash flow challenges. However, eagerly embracing such opportunities without thorough investor research can harm your business. In their pursuit of resolving cash flow issues, many businesses hastily consider investors without a second thought. This behavior often leads to blindly accepting an investor, providing short-term monetary gains but limiting access to a valuable professional network.
Attracting investors is undoubtedly challenging for small businesses, but even in such circumstances, it’s crucial not to pick just anyone without diligent research. Before making a new beginning in 2024, it’s essential to remember that investors don’t inject capital without expecting a return on their investments. Therefore, resist the temptation to say yes immediately; instead, take the time to weigh the pros and cons before making a well-informed decision.
7. Setting Uncompetitive Prices
Small businesses new in the business have to go against the intense competition from existing businesses. If the prices are too low or too high for the services existing in the market, it can significantly affect your business if the prices are not balanced. Setting too low a price is an excellent strategy to work on cost leadership, but it can backfire if you cannot meet your operating costs. On the other hand, if the prices are higher, it will not be too attractive as a fresh business to compete with market leaders. Addressing this issue can be challenging, but a small business cannot give away profits. A reliable solution is to research the market for the price competition and services offered along with the product. Asking current customers can also give you an idea about a price justification. This can help in setting a price while being transparent with the business.
Final Words
Entering 2024, small businesses need to prepare for the competition and financial risks of the B2B environment. A small business can be profitable by itself and even lead to financial independence if you play your cards right and scale the venture in the future. However, understanding that efficient and effective management of financial businesses comes with specific challenges, including financial risks. By identifying potential risks early on and understanding how they work, you should be able to create a strategy to address and minimize the threats. To address those issues, this article featured common risks you may face in 2024. It proposes strategies to overcome them to secure your financial future and unlock your cash flow without considerable investments.