Bounce Back from Post-Holiday Debt

Life after the busy holiday season can be overwhelming for any small business owner – customers are tightening their purse strings to help cure their spending hangover from the holiday season, and bills from both business and personal expenses  are piling up.  As with personal spending habits, a small business owner has probably spent more during the holiday season on items like inventory, staffing or marketing. Not unlike a post-holiday diet or detox, here are some tips on how to bounce back from holiday spending and debt.

1. 1. Cut Unnecessary Costs: Do you really need to upgrade your phone system or advertise in both print and online? See what costs can get trimmed down. Even small cuts to operating expenses in several areas can add up to significant savings, which you can put towards your debt payments.
   2. Revisit Pricing: A new year in an ever-changing economic environment can be an opportunity to revisit your current cost and assess whether your price structure makes sense in current market conditions. Look at what was popular and sold well over the past year. Did you quickly sell out of a particular product or service? Raising the price, even a little, can raise some extra revenue.
   3. Prioritize Debt Repayments: Pay off the highest interest loan first or any loans for which you have put up personal effects as collateral. Continue to make at least your minimum payments to all debt while you tackle the high interest loans.
   4. Consolidate Debt: Take out a low-rate loan, like a Lendified small business loan which offers competitive interest rates to pay off various credit cards and loans accrued over the holiday season. Consolidating debt can benefit you and your business on so many levels. It not only allows you to pay off the higher interest rate loans and cards, consolidating your loans also means you only have to worry about a single all-in-one payment.
   5. Have a Sale: A sale can reinvigorate your business and equip your sales force with an easy conversation starter. Have any stagnant or holiday themed inventory not moving? Have a sale. Inventory not selling and just sitting on shelves is wasted money.
   6. Improve Receivables: Late and unpaid invoices can have a major impact on your cash flow and financial picture. Offering customers and clients multiple convenient payment options or offering discounts and incentives to customers who pay their bills quickly are just a couple of ways to keep cash flowing in the right direction.