Small Business Cash Flow: Strategies for Making Your Business a Financial Success [Paperback]

Denise O'Berry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2006

Many small business owners don’t understand the importance of maintaining a healthy cash flow. More than anything else, cash flow determines the success or failure of a small business. Small Business Cash Flow covers all the basics of cash flow, from selecting a great accountant, to keeping money flowing in and out of the business, to budgeting and record-keeping.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

CASH FLOW—THE SECRET OF SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS

Every small business is different, but most small business owners have a lot in common. They have a great entrepreneurial idea, as well as the drive and passion to make it happen, but they often lack the basic financial skills they need to succeed. Worst of all, they don't understand the vital importance of cash flow in keeping theirbusinesses healthy.

This uniquely practical guide shows why cash flow is hugely important to small businesses like yours. Cash flow is a sign of your business's health and success; and it can be adjusted through simple actions that have a big impact on your ultimate success or failure. Small Business Cash Flow will help you master all the important information and skills you need to keep your cash flowing in the right amounts and directions.

"This is the tool every small business owner needs to run a business. Small businesses live and die by cash flow, and this practical guide shows you how to maximize your cash so you don't come up short. And no one explains things more clearly or with specific how-to guidance than Denise O'Berry."
—Anita Campbell, talk show host and Editor of Small Business Trends (smallbiztrends.com)

"How refreshing——and useful——to see pricing and marketing set in the context of creating and managing cash flow. This is a book I'll recommend to new business owners and veterans who suffer from 'Feast or Famine Syndrome.' "
—Marcia Yudkin, author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity

"You can have the greatest plan, product, and service and still fail, if you don't manage money in and out of your business. Denise O'Berry knows this and in Small Business Cash Flow gives practical, employable advice to get the most out of your business. This is a book all small business owners should read and one I'll reference often."
—Jim Logan, author of Cash Flow Blog

About the Author

DENISE O'BERRY is an entrepreneur who helps small business owners set priorities and take action to grow their businesses. She speaks to professional organizations, writes the "Just for Small Business" column, hosts the "Minding Your Own Business" online forum for small business owners, and leads Small Business Matters, an exclusive members-only club. She is frequently published and appears as an expert on small business issues on a variety of television and radio programs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470040971
• ISBN-13: 978-0470040973
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A small business owner since 1996, Denise O'Berry understands the challenges facing small business. She's lived them herself and helped hundreds of clients work through the same issues. She understands the frustrations, the fears, and joys of owning a small business. She continues to be amazed by the things small business owners manage to accomplish.

A note from Denise: It's no coincidence that my initials are DO. I've been helping small business DO things to be successful for over 15 years. I've worked with hundreds of small business owners over the years. You are a hardy lot. Your enthusiasm and ability to overcome huge obstacles inspires me. The best way to have a sustainable business is to take action. There is no better time to start than now.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guidebook for an aspiring entrepreneur who hasn't figured out the importance of positive cash flow!, July 17, 2007

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Small Business Cash Flow: Strategies for Making Your Business a Financial Success (Paperback)

I really liked this book very much. It clearly provides strategies for making your business a financial success. Without cash flow you don't have a business. And the book does a good job of pointing out how a small business owner can stay on top of the cash flow issue in running her business.

As a college-trained accountant, turned CPA, turned tax attorney, I learned about Statement of Cash Flows in school. I was a little surprised to hear the author differentiate between a Cash Flows Statement and a Cash Flows Budget. But that's OK, she did a good job emphasizing how important having postive cash flows is, and how to make sure they either get to be positive or stay positive.

My favorite chapter was #6 about pricing. I thought the topic was covered very well. I think the book could be improved upon by adding a chapter about business plans and their components. And it would have been nice to see an explanation about the importance of studying the competition and how the competition markets its goods or services and how it reaches its customers. I felt this book forgot to tell its readers that entrepreneurs don't have to reinvent the wheel when starting or strategizing their businesses. Much can be copied.

I would have liked the book better if less emphasis had been placed on finding and retaining an accountant. Today computers are so important to a small business owner, and most know how to use them. As a result, getting a copy of Quickbooks Pro and studying it will make the need for an accountant not so important. A consulting practice that specializes in using Quickbooks Pro for bookkeeping purposes should probably be consulted in order to set the software program up initially. But only after the entrepreneur has struggled with trying to set the program up herself first. Then bookkeeping and report reading is just a matter of using the program.

If this book helps inspire you to start your own business, then definitely consider searching out one or two Toastmasters clubs to join. They are great and inexpensive and will help you learn about public speaking and leadership. And don't forget to consult SCORE for some help in putting together your business plan.

I think the resource section of this book was missing a few books. I'd add the following:

1. Structuring Your Business: From Corporations To Llc's --Everything You Need To Set Up Your Business Efficiently (Adams Streetwise Series)
2. Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack
3. Seven Step Business Plan
4. The Entrepreneurial Itch: Don't Scratch Until You Read This Book
5. Talk Up Your Business: How to Make the Most of Opportunities to Promote and Grow Your Small Business
6. Promote Your Business: How to Write Effective Marketing Material for Your Small Business
7. Instant Systems (Instant Success)
8. The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Small Business Owner's Guide to Financial Success, June 18, 2007

By 

Pamela Dodd (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Small Business Cash Flow: Strategies for Making Your Business a Financial Success (Paperback)

Denise O'Berry is right. In the US we tend to raise employees, not business owners. Most of us with the passion and commitment to be small business entrepreneurs woefully lack the important information we need to handle the money side of business well. O'Berry's book fills in this gap very nicely.

The chapters are written tightly, with information on every aspect of cash flow from choosing and working with an accountant, your best business advocate, to finding and keeping cash, setting and managing a budget. and pricing. There are also practical tips on creating customer loyalty and lots of helpful information on marketing, the lifeblood of any small business. Especially useful at the end of the book are 25 pages of resources, including copies of documents and reports you can access at the Small Business Cash Flow web site.

I've always been afraid of the money end of small business, thinking I needed to be a math or accounting whiz to learn it. But this book makes it almost fun! A focused, easy read, the book is a tool you'll want to keep nearby to refer to again and again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Financial Issues - Great Advice for Small Businesses, February 18, 2008

By 

Cathy Stucker "IdeaLady.com" (Sugar Land, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Small Business Cash Flow: Strategies for Making Your Business a Financial Success (Paperback)

Length:: 1:21 Mins

This is not just a guide to managing your money. Denise O'Berry tells you what you need to know to make--and keep--more money from your small business.

There is a lot of solid, practical, how-to advice, and the best information on pricing I have seen.

If you have a small business or you are thinking about starting one, this book belongs on your shelf.

Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com