4 Easy Steps to Break Down Financial Barriers

Too much demand and not enough resources can put any business in a tricky situation. Financial barriers to growth can limit a company's ability to reach milestones and hold it back when new opportunities present themselves. Further, financial hurdles can even lead to a contraction for an enterprise if this problem is not addressed immediately.

When seeking a route to break down the barriers to your business growth, consider this four-step process:

1. Assess your needs

Performing a targeted needs assessment is a crucial first step toward bolstering the areas of your business that need upgrading, investment or attention. Without knowing what's needed to succeed, you may find the business merely spinning its tires and unable to gain any traction.

One missing component businesses often find themselves needing is access to major equipment. Whether you're in construction, agriculture, mining or some other industry that requires the use of heavy machinery, finding ways to finance this equipment can be a pain point for many businesses.

Equipment leasing can be an easy way to free up capital and grow your construction firm.

2. Plan for your business goals

After assessing your needs, you'll have the pertinent information for drafting the blueprint for reaching your business goals. Whether this involves obtaining a certain number of new clients, growing revenue to a set level or something more specific to your company, you'll likely need to find a way to finance this plan.

One of the easiest ways to free up working capital is by opting to utilize leased equipment instead of purchasing it. Equipment leasing frees up the funds that would otherwise go to paying a hefty price for buying new machinery. In doing so, it gives your firm more flexibility to reallocate these resources for growth plans, such as investing in wage increases, more materials or a targeted marketing campaign.

3. Monitor your progress

Once you've set your business goals, you need to implement processes that track your company's progress toward its milestones. Unless there's a way to monitor how your plan is or isn't working, there's no way to measure its success.

"Enterprise resource planning systems are a good way to track key performance indicators (KPIs)."

One way to assist in tracking KPIs is by using an enterprise resource planning tool. Many of these are cloud-based and provide real-time access to valuable information on your fleet. These systems typically visualize the status, open work orders and completion dates of all projects, helping your company stay on schedule and within budget.

Additionally, technology packages such as Product Link transmit data from your machines to create essential insights about the location, status and productivity of your equipment. You also have access to customized health and utilization reports, along with mapping and mixed fleet capabilities.

It's also wise to look at the larger picture to decide whether your company is even ready for growth, the U.S. Small Business Administration noted.2 It’s often a good idea to focus on perfecting internal processes, while other times it might make more sense to identify where your company fits in the market relative to your competitors and supply chain. This provides a good view for pinpointing any potential.

4. Revisit your goals/needs

Your company's strategic vision for meeting its needs and reaching its goals shouldn't be written in stone. You may find that after a year, your original growth plan may no longer suffice. As conditions change, new external and internal factors may beset your company. This can include rising material costs, new regulatory compliance, disruptive competition or more.

Your master plan should not only be dynamic, but also adaptive to allow for quickly scaling operations or responding to shifting industry trends. These four steps can’t guarantee you’ll knock down all the financial barriers facing your company, but they will guide you in the right direction to get your finances in order, and help position your organization for continued success.

Sourcing

1 http://www.fgcu.edu/cob/reri/studies/small_bus_barriers_20140725.pdf

2 https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-break-through-5-common-barriers-small-business-growth