I’m struggling to get an investor, what can I do?

With precious little equity funding around it may just be time to get creative about keeping your company afloat until money flows a little easier. Watching your cash is critical while you wait for funding.

Here are some ideas that might stave off the liquidators…

Let’s start with the easy (relatively, that is) options first.

1. Get a cheaper office
Overheads really eat up your very valuable cash. Look at every single overhead expense and get the slasher to them. Be aggressive. There is no point fiddling at the edges here. Can you move your office to home, share your office, reduce the space you need, etc.

2. Change staff
This is a little more difficult because you want to keep the skills in the company. But you could ask staff to take temporary pay cuts, take time off without pay, look at outsourcing some non-core functions (you’d be surprised what you can outsource these days!), share staff with another company, reduce staff, reduce some of the ‘fringe’ benefits.

3. Reduce expenses
Take a good look at what you spend money on every month. Get your team together and start slashing. You’d be surprised what you can cut when you really have to. Don’t wait until you’re desperate. It may be too late then.

The good news is that there are plenty of bargains around these days. Go looking for them. You can get good deals on anything from travel, to office equipment, to office supplies, to cars, to computers and the list goes on. Don’t forget that the auctions and eBay are great places to find bargains.

4. Get your cash in
Make sure that your customers pay on time. Don’t let a single account go overdue by one day without a follow up from your office. You don’t want to be a banker to your customers.

5. Sell unwanted (make that not needed) assets
If you have equipment that you are not using then think about selling it. Okay, now may not be the best time to sell but it all depends how desperate you are for cash. Do a ‘stock take’ and look at what you don’t need.

6. Share with others
You may find that you can share overheads/equipment with other companies. I realise that may cause some ‘ownership’ issues but have a look at this option. You’ll find a solution if it’s important enough to you.

7. Make arrangements with your creditors
Don’t wait until you get those nasty letters to do something about your creditors. Assess your position and make offers to your creditors. They know that business bankruptcies are going through the roof right now. If they see that you have been proactive in doing something about your debts you’ll be likely to get a much more sympathetic hearing.

I’ve heard of situations where interest has been suspended while people work their way out of difficult financial positions. You’ll be surprised what you can negotiate these days.

And finally…This is not the time to hang onto the little luxuries in your life. Swallow your pride and slash whatever you can. What you need to do is to keep your company going until times get better. And they will get better.

Companies will be stronger and leaner and will be in great shape to grab hold of opportunities that pop up as our economy recovers.

Gail Geronimos, is the founder of Achaeus, which helps entrepreneurs develop their businesses and she has just started a new site www.pitchingtoinvestors.com with tools and tips about how to develop killer presentations to raise capital.

To read more Gail Geronimos blogs, click here.