Stan was at his banker’s trying to get a short term loan. “I need about $10,000 for three months, just until I get things straightened out. This is my situation: I got this nice order last February from Baker Company. Their bill was due last month, but so far I haven’t seen anything. Now I have another big order, this time from Gisher Construction and I need to order raw materials, but I can’t since Baker hasn’t paid. Even when they do pay, it’s only about 75% of what I’ll need to order to do the Gisher contract. And then, we’re headed into our slow months; no one much does anything through the winter. And with the hurricane down in Florida, people are thinking twice before placing their orders.”
Stan was experiencing a number of cash flow problems that small businesses (and often larger businesses) face. Can you identify five problems?