Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact. Profit records a sale when you invoice; cash arrives only when the customer pays. Businesses do not close because the profit line is red. They close because the bank account hits zero - and that happens to profitable companies all the time.
For 75 days you financed the deal. Win five deals at once and the gap five-times itself. That is how growth kills.
Every business has this timeline. The danger is that your accounts say you earned money on day 10, while your bank account says you lent it. The faster you grow, the more deals sit in that gap at the same time - which is why fast-growing companies are the ones that die of success.
Watch one number weekly: cash in bank, minus everything you must pay in the next 30 days. That number, not profit, is your oxygen gauge.
Shorten the gap: deposits up front, invoicing on the day of delivery, polite but relentless follow-up. Every day cut from the payment gap is interest-free financing you no longer need.
Keep a buffer: two to three months of fixed costs. Boring, unbeatable.
Yes, easily. If costs go out before customer money comes in, growth widens the gap until the bank account hits zero.
The days between paying suppliers and being paid by customers. The longer it is, the more cash you need to survive your own growth.
Two to three months of fixed costs is the common rule. Long payment terms or seasonal sales demand more.
Business plans and projections that banks take seriously. Free scoping call, fixed quote.
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