Let’s say that you’ve invested a great deal of time and effort growing what was once a simple idea into a successful, lucrative small business model that’s now begun to gain some real traction. Actually, if you’ve grown your business from the ground up then we can safely assume that you’ve worked hard in order to get where you are now; long hours and painstaking labor are integral to starting and successfully growing a small business.
Invoice Factoring Designed to Help You Experience Steady Growth
We know this because The Commercial Finance Group has decades and decades of experience working with small to medium sized businesses like yours. Over the years of financial consulting and small business lending that we’ve successfully executed, we’ve seen just about every financial situation that you could imagine from businesses deeply in debt to those who were growing faster than they could realistically manage.
Today’s blog topic concerns growth and various ways to assess how fast your company is growing, in what ways it’s growing, and how to go about funding your business in a way that supports future steady growth. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re passionate about and we’re happy to pass on our industry insights to entrepreneurs like you!
Read more industry insights here or learn more about our approach to lending and what sets The Commercial Finance Group apart from other invoice factoring companies.
Touch Base With Your Own Expectations
Before you begin to look over financial statements and ask your employees how they’re feeling about company growth and their overall satisfaction, take some time out of your day to look inward. Look back on where you were in life when you started your own business and compare that to where you are now. Ideally, you’ll have at least several months of time between founding your business and now, but a couple years is a better time frame for comparison’s sake.
Are you in line with your original business plan? Is it collecting dust in the back of your mind or have you followed every single point down to a T? You won’t be a business mogul overnight nor will you be in a matter of months, but if you’re experiencing an upward trend of growth then that’s a great sign.
Pay Attention to Customer or Client Feedback
The brilliance of reviews and customer feedback not only lies in establishing a solid online reputation, but also in the fact that these individuals are helping you clearly identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s true that the bottomline of your success lies in the numbers but cash isn’t necessarily the only way to quantify success.
Equity and Business Retention
Repeat business is good business and if anything, these are the ideal clients and customers that you want to work with. Sure, it’s important to generate fresh leads and venture out into new markets when appropriate but strong retention numbers mean that you’re undeniably doing something right, whatever it is. It’s also worth noting that, generally speaking, it’s more worthwhile to upsell current or longtime customers as opposed to acquiring brand new ones.
Talk to Your Employees
Your staff, large or small, is an invaluable resource in many different ways including assessing your company’s growth. How do they feel about the state of your business? Are you a transparent boss who’s keeping your employees in the loop about financial projections and perceived success? There are some things you’ll want to keep private but the people you work with can offer valuable insight and shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The Numbers
The best way to quantify the success and subsequent growth of your company is to take a deep look at your financial situation past, present, and future. Though this can often be a time-consuming and mentally-taxing process, you’ll want to take a good look at a few financial statements:
Income Statements
You might know an income statement as a profit and loss statement, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. This overview of your profitability over a specific period of time shows you how much money is coming in and how much money is going out. Keep monthly, quarterly, and yearly time periods in mind.
Balance Sheets
Balance sheets take a higher-level approach to your business overview focusing on your company’s assets, any debts owed, and tracking partner investments. In essence, a balance sheet gives you a clearer picture of what the long-term sustainability of your business looks like (or should look like).
Cash Flow Statements
This is the type of information that gets our team excited (we get it; we’re nerds when it comes to finance). Cash flow statements are different from standard income statements in the sense that you’re looking at liquid assets, meaning that your profitability from a given quarter only goes into your pocket once outstanding client invoices are paid off. This is one of the most problematic areas of small business finances that companies face and, fortunately, it’s exactly what The Commercial Finance Group specializes in.
Leverage Our Working Capital Financing Services
You’re passionate about what you founded your small business around and we don’t expect you to be the financial expert — that’s our job here at The Commercial Finance Group. Our relationship-based approach to funding and consulting means we’re here to help oversee your company’s financial situation and we’re dedicated to helping you grow your business. Contact us with any questions today.
