Table of Contents
Your Small Business Companion
1. Can You Save Your Business?
- Stepping Back to Plan for the Short and Long Term
- Selling Your Business
- Putting Your Business in Hibernation
- Saving Your Business
- Special Considerations for Different Kinds of Businesses
2. Don’t Ignore Bad News
- Why You Can’t Wait
- Cut Costs, Change Direction, Quit, or Sell
- Decide How Much to Cut Expenses
- Act Slowly to Reverse Cutbacks
3. Control Your Cash Flow
- Keep Paying Your Bills on Time
- How to Create More Cash
- What Not to Do
4. Minimize Liability for Your Debts
- Are You Personally Liable for Business Debts?
- Liability for Jointly Owned Debt
- What Can Creditors Do If You Don’t Pay?
- Prioritizing Debt Payments
- Staying Out of Deeper Trouble
- How to Protect Yourself From Further Personal Liability
5. Concentrate on What’s Really Profitable
- Getting a Quick Profits Plan on Paper
- Making Money in a Service Business
- Making Money in Retail or Manufacturing
6. Innovate on a Shoestring
- Invention
- Copying
- Serendipity
- Making Innovation a Continuous Process
7. Identify Your Customers
- Aiming at the Bull’s-Eye
- Filling in Your Target
8. Don’t Waste Money on Ineffective Marketing
- Market the Right Products or Services to the Right People
- Don’t Spend Big Dollars on Advertising
- Ask Long-Term Customers for Support
- Encourage Customers to Recommend Your Business
- Use Paid Listings Effectively
- Market on Your Own Website
- Hold a “Trying to Stay in Business” Sale
9. Handle Layoffs Fairly – And Keep Your Best People
- Making a Wise Layoff Plan
- The Logistics of a Layoff
- Keeping the Great People You Hire
10. Don’t Work Too Much
- The Importance of a Sane Schedule
- How to Work Less and Make More
11. Work With Your Best Competitors
- Treat Competitors With Respect
- Getting Business From Competitors
- Working for Your Competitors
- Working With Your Competitors
13. Dealing With Debt: Bankruptcy and Its Alternatives
- Negotiating With Your Creditors
- Hiring Help: Assignment for Benefit of Creditors
- Filing for Bankruptcy
- What’s Your Best Strategy?
- More About Chapter 7 Personal Bankruptcy
- More About Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for Business
- If You Might File for Bankruptcy
Appendix A: How to Prepare a Profit and Loss Forecast and Cash Flow Analysis
- Profit and Loss Forecast
- Cash Flow Analysis
Index