Are You Slow Paying Suppliers?

When cash flow is tight, you can call your best suppliers and talk to the highest contact possible (preferably not in accounting) and see if they will give you a little breathing room. Even five or ten days longer to pay can do a lot of good in allocating the funds you have available. Many times your past orders, if large and on a regular basis will get the contact to budge a little and help you for a short time. But you must make the call and ask.

Any loyalty you have built up throughout the past can pay off now when you need it most. Don't be afraid to ask even if it's unpleasant to make the call. And a call will work much better than an email in this situation. This task is just part of owning your own business and necessary to the health of your company. The owner or top-level management person should be the one to make the call, not someone lower in rank. If you ask with sincerity and honestly most of the time they will work with you during tough cash flow times.
More on paying suppliers in chapter 5 of my book "Save Your Business", Crimson Publishing and available at amazon.com