A healthy business is a resilient, resourceful and forward-thinking business that can continue operating and meeting client expectations despite the ups and downs that are created by macro- and microeconomic factors.
While many factors are out of your control, such as a natural disaster or political volatility; you can plan for unexpected events by building resilience into your business strategy. You can also put processes in place for better managing the factors that have a direct impact on your business.
These include:
- Your target market
Your customers and clients have an incredible amount of influence over your business. If they did not choose to buy your products or services, then you wouldn’t be in business at all. Your customers may not always be right, but listening to them and understanding their needs (and pain points) will enable you to create a solution that meets their expectations. Understanding your target market is integral to winning and retaining their business. - Your people
By investing in the best skills and talent to produce or sell your products, or provide your services, you can give your company the edge in a competitive marketplace. Whether you choose to offer decent salaries, generous benefits packages, great working conditions or attractive career progression opportunities – make sure you are doing your utmost to attract, retain and motivate the experts your business needs to thrive. - Your supply chain
To operate profitably, you need to work hard to negotiate the best deals you can on your raw materials and goods from your suppliers so that you can offer a competitive price to your customers. You also need to be sure that you can rely on every individual and entity along your supply chain, so that you don’t let others down further down the line or end up doing business with someone unsavoury who could damage your reputation by association. - Your business image
The way that your target market and community perceive your company has a significant impact on its well-being. If you operate with social and environmental responsibility, give back to the community, treat your employees fairly and conduct business in an ethical manner, you will build a strong and healthy reputation in the market that will not only increase customer or client loyalty, but also help you to attract the most sought-after talent and gain a competitive advantage. - Access to finance
Cash is king when it comes to keeping your business healthy. It means you have the working capital you need to keep your daily processes running optimally, as well as to build and grow.If your business often grapples with low cashflow while you’re waiting for your clients to pay their invoices – often sitting out invoice payment terms of 30, 60 or 90 days – you should consider factoring as a financing option.
Factoring is a financing strategy adopted by businesses around the globe to unlock working capital. Sometimes referred to as “accounts receivable financing”, factoring involves a business selling its invoices (i.e. accounts receivable) to a third-party organisation, known as a “factor”. The factor then collects payment of the invoices directly from the business’s clients.
Essentially, factoring gives you the ability to draw cash back into your business when it is needed to boost cashflow and enable you to meet expenses, mitigate the risk of potential bad debt, and meet your growth goals.
Improve your cashflow now
Merchant Factors was founded in 1988 to offer growing businesses an alternative to traditional bank loans. We specialise in local and cross-border trade finance; and we’re able to tailor our facilities to suit most emerging small and medium size businesses. Since our inception, we’ve successfully assisted over 2000 businesses in reaching their financial dreams.
As the only truly independent debtor finance institution in South Africa, Merchant Factors can offer you the fastest turnaround time in the industry from application to pay-out.
For fast, flexible financing – contact Merchant Factors today.
Finance beyond the Numbers.
