Business depends entirely on closing deals. Profitable business depends entirely on management of closed deals. If your company is one that has a process in place for making certain your relationships with clients, vendors and long-term partners actually add value to your business, you are far more likely to succeed over time.
If, on the other hand, your business has a potential to suffer after the hard work is done and you should be benefiting from what you’ve accomplished, it might be a good time to take a look at protecting yourself even after you’ve brought that new business in the door through a great business deal.
Professional Advice
It might seem that the advice to have your professional advisors take a look at the deals you close should go without saying, but even the most successful business owners and managers sometimes overlook this crucial step. A qualified accountant, preferably one with forensic skills and accomplishments to match, should evaluate your new deal and provide you a written report.
While your accountant is in one room looking things over, your attorney should be in the next room doing exactly the same thing. They should compare notes as soon as possible to make absolutely certain the business you think you’ve earned will actually find its way to your bottom line. Far too many deals unravel due to what seem like relatively small issues that could easily be cleared up if you have professional counsel on hand to help you avoid depending on results that might never come to fruition.
Financial Matters
Most companies have reached a consensus in 21st century business matters, and that is to make certain you are collecting guaranteed funds before you rely on those revenues for operations, payroll or any other business necessity. There are several reasons for this kind of policy.
With the exception of cash and checks drawn directly against a bank, convenient forms of secured payment have largely vanished from the business landscape. Credit cards and nearly all forms of electronic transfers can be reversed practically at will, wire transfers have security issues baked right in to every transaction and most other payment forms are either too new to trust or too complex to rely on for routine business matters.
It is vitally important you make sure the payment form you use isn’t going to leave your business exposed legally or financially to unscrupulous clients or vendors. Building an enterprise is hard enough without having to accept a step back for every two steps forward.
Compliance and Documentation
A fast-growing business will collect paperwork in amounts that will stun most reasonable people. Documenting compliance with various local, state and federal regulations is often a full-time job (or two), and every company requires advice and help to one degree or another with things like obtaining a certificate of insurance, authorization from corporate officers and financial documents like balance sheets and letters of credit.
Most companies solve these problems with outside help, especially if they are part of the routine process of acquiring and managing new business. It can be very expensive for a company to learn they are likely to lose their new account because a document either didn’t get filed or wasn’t retrieved on time.
Keeping a deal alive has much more to do with standardizing business practices than it does with heroic or brilliant accomplishments in the face of adversity. These standard processes, in fact, are likely to prevent problems from hindering a company’s progress in the first place, which will serve to obviate the need for additional effort and cost. Getting the benefit from your hard work is worth it.
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