With hair standing on end, and wearing an old paisley silk robe and worn sheepskin slippers,  he added milk from the carton to the bowl and turned the mix master on to “high”.  Oblivious to the milk spluttering from the bowl he added, eggs, vanilla, and baking powder.  But it was when he added flour that the concoction took off with mass distribution of little dough droplets hitting the counters, walls and even the ceiling.

“Mummy, Daddy is making awfuls!” my brother Donald screamed in glee as he raced up the stairs to awaken the household. Yes, waffles were “awfuls” in my house growing up because to my mother there was an “awful” mess to cleanup following the legendary Sunday morning breakfasts.

Years later, 1993 to be exact, I visited my father for Sunday breakfast and he explained that he had now been delegated to pouring the orange juice and occasionally (under supervision), to the cooking of the toast. “Awfuls” were off the menu. He didn’t mind, as Sundays were also the days he worked on his Cash Flow Forecasts, a process that he wanted to share with me.

He began by unrolling a 11 by 17 inch scroll under his arm. Over 500 inches, and two years of ledger sheets in pencil, attached by month with scotch tape, stretched from the dining room through to the front hall and beyond to his office door.  On hands and knees with the only tools being a pencil with eraser and a magnifying glass my father in his paisley robe explained the importance of cash flow management. There was no calculator as math is done in your head he explained. He showed me how each month he would insert the actuals to replace his forecasted numbers and how he would erase and adjust the numbers going forward for two years to reflect the new reality. He had a column for the previous year to compare his performance.

I recall my mother appearing and discovering us on the floor surround by the spreadsheet mess and asking, “Hugh, what in the world are you doing?”  “I am showing Elizabeth how to do cash flows, dear”.

Thank goodness for Microsoft Excel today as that manual process took us all afternoon! However, the learning was invaluable as I was able to determine the negative impact on my cash flow of taking on a new large customer requiring special billing arrangements. This was my first funding requirement.

Here are 8 tips on managing cash flow:

1. Commit time to regularly updating your Cash Flow forecasts – it can be once a month or more depending on what stage your business is at
2. If you discover a cash flow problem identify the cause and also how long you will have the problem.
3. Determine the best solution – Can you cut back in expenses somewhere? Do you need to negotiate with suppliers or customers, make adjustments to your sales or marketing efforts, or get a temporary extension on your line?
4. If you are borrowing money scrutinize the terms and calculate the interest
5. Efficiency analysis – could technology streamline and make your operations more cost efficient in someway?
6. Customer evaluation – do a credit check on your customers. Poor paying customers may have to be introduced to your competitors (haha)
7. Reset management priorities – you may have to curb some plans for a bit. Determine for how long.
8. Rainy Day Fund – never cut back on contributing to your rainy day fund to fund growth. We live in a game-changer society and you may need to change course suddenly and will need cash on hand.

As a final comment, sometimes putting your business in a negative cash flow position is a calculated risk that is necessary.  We will explore this subject more in future posts.

One of the things I learned early on as a woman entrepreneur was that neither my siblings nor close friends wanted to hear about my business. This was difficult to learn because my business is such a major focus of my life, and something I am excited to talk about. This holds true for all entrepreneurs.

It is very important for women entrepreneurs to have a sounding board, people they can talk to and who can add valuable insights. For this reason you need to build your Personal Support Network as you build your business.

The development of a Personal Support Network to help you navigate and sail through the ever-changing entrepreneurial curve, from startup through to exit, is fundamental to your success as a woman entrepreneur and business leader.

While your Personal Support Network should change as your needs do, here are 8 criteria you might consider when selecting the right people for your Personal Support Network.

1. Woman Business Owner – Who do you admire in business that you feel is someone you could learn from?
2. Family Member – is there a successful entrepreneur in your family who would support you?
3. Friend – a friend who comes from a family of entrepreneurs can also be supportive to you because they will appreciate your way of thinking having grown up in an entrepreneurial house hold
4. Sales and Marketing  – how do you envision your sales team? Do you know someone who has built a successful sales team that you could learn from?
5. Human Resources – the most money you will invest will be in the people you hire so find a friend who is an expert in this field. They can advise you on HR policies that will save your butt. I will never forget the elderly HR friend who handed me my first policy: “All overtime must be approved by your supervisor in writing PRIOR to be taken”.  This policy saved me money!
6. Legal – it really isn’t cool to ask for free legal advice but once a month (if necessary) you could take your lawyer for lunch and ask for advice on a challenge you have.
7. Accounting – similar strategy to your lawyer
8. Entrepreneur Organization – while organizations are not the best place to discuss intimate business issues there are some you could considering joining like EO Entrepreneurs Organization where members gather in forum groups to learn best practices and confidentially share and brainstorm on business issues.

And finally, make sure you show appreciation to those in your Personal Support Network.  It is a blessing to have people in your life that you can trust and who understand you as a woman entrepreneur. Weathering a bad storm should you encounter one, will be a whole lot easier.

As a woman entrepreneur for over 20 years I have steered my business enterprise through both calm and turbulent waters. I have been called crazy for my vision, stupid for taking risks, applauded through high growth, brilliant for receiving Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, brave for standing up to a billion dollar predator, and ignored and shunned in times of difficulty. Through it all I have learned that the greatest support comes from the people you would least expect, and from never losing faith. Faith is not only belief in yourself but in what you cannot quite see from where you may be standing.

To keep momentum everyday I have found inspiration in nature and in the words and wisdom of the theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. As we venture into 2014 and a new business year I wanted to share with my colleagues and with other women entrepreneurs eight of Albert Einstein’s inspiring quotes which have become a foundation in my business.

1. Start-up – “Imagination is more important than knowledge”

2. Business Design – Be passionately curious. “The important thing is not to stop questioning”

3. Competitive Advantage – “You have to learn the rules of the game and then play better than anyone else”

4. Persevere – “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts”

5. Be a Leader – “Try to become not a person of success but a person of value”.

6. Be Fearless – “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”.

7. Embrace Failure – “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”.

8. Stay Balanced – “Look deep into nature and you will understand everything”.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2014!