(Akiit.com) No, I’m not asking if your company is environmentally safe or if your company uses organic products. Nor am I asking if your company recycles plastic and cardboard. I’m asking whether or not your company is money green. Do you actually make money? Is your cash flow flowing?
Believe it or not, I meet minority business owners all the time who have lost sight of this very goal. They start off with the idea of generating revenue, and then they end up just casually floating around.
I see them at conferences and such, and they are just there for the association. Others believe they are making money, but they really aren’t.
Does this describe you? If so, you need to find a way to get back on board the train of success and profitability. Thousands of African American entrepreneurs are generating billions of dollars in business revenue every single year. Unless you are running a non-profit organization, you should be generating a steady cash flow.
Here are some tips on how to keep your company green:
1) Stay focused. If it doesn’t make money for your company, then minimize your time with it. Too often, entrepreneurs waste time doing things that do not contribute to their bottom lines.
2) Stop making excuses. Some businesses can rightfully blame the economy as the reason why they’re not making money. More than likely though, you can’t. The reason why you’re not making money now is the same reason why you weren’t making money when the economy was booming. Whatever that reason is, that’s what you need to address.
3) Learn to adapt. If it is so that your business has been highly affected by the current status of the economy, find out how people have shifted their spending habits. You may be selling something that people want, and you may need to shift to selling something that people need.
4) Stay in contact. One thing I learned just recently is that if you stay in contact with your industry leaders, you will make more money. It happens all the time: People are handed contracts just for being at the right place at the right time, or for knowing the right person.
Written By Dante Lee