Cashflow is king in any business and skip hire businesses are no exception. Even though there may be plenty of cash about at times, business owners are always keenly aware of the liabilities they still need to have cash for.
When hiring out skips you may take payment up front but you know that come the pickup you must pay to sort and/or dispose of the waste as well as driving out to collect it. Costing you wages, fuel and all the other overheads that have been included in your pricing model.
If your cashflow is keeping you up at night, then you need to reconnect with previous customers or find new customers to boost your cashflow. You may even need to consider a combination of these ideas to make sure you're in the black!
1. Contact Customers You Haven't Heard From In A While
Identify customers who you have done work for in the past who haven't ordered from you in a while and call them. You don't have to ask for their business just call to see how they are going and if they have any projects coming up. If you were keen you could offer a small incentive on their next service (like a $20 discount).
We have a really handy article on mailing lists for skip hire companies that may help you leverage these principles in your business to create ongoing growth.
2. Find New Customers
Finding new customers can be expensive depending on how you achieve getting them. A rather old school tactic might be to do a letter box drop (like you need anymore exercise after a day in the yard). While this may be tedious it is a way that you can relatively cheaply reach people who are in your target area very easily. There are of course paid mediums such as Adwords which when targeted correctly can be very effective.
Another way is to lookup builders and various other tradies in your area and call them to introduce your business. This is a great way to start winning business from your competitors and making sure that you have a good mix of commercial and residential jobs.
If you don't already have a website and digital marketing strategy then now is the perfect time to start leveraging this sales channel and grow your business. Hiary can provide a website that can accept bookings and/or payments and allow you to accept bookings from the consumers who don't want to call to book.
3. Cut Costs
This is easier said than done. Once you've looked into the costs in the business and found that there aren't any obvious costs you can cut the decisions only get harder. Often this can mean considering laying off employee's and/or selling off valuable assets that you have worked hard to acquire. If you've ended up at this step then a visit to the accountant is certainly advisable and while the decisions may be hard you need to make them fast to save your business.