Small Business Business Bill Of Sale: Fill & Download for Free

Three months ago my friend Tom told me, "Sales keep growing every month!"Today he's about to close his business."What went wrong?" I asked.Tom was stressed out, going through a horrible time, "This is a nightmare. I can't pay my bills. I have two months that I haven't been able to even pay myself.""But what's wrong, Tom? A few weeks ago you told me that you were growing in sales every single month. Now you can't pay your bills? How are you spending your money? You have pretty good margins. It doesn't make sense.""Hector, the more I sell, the more deeper I get into trouble. I'm constantly waiting anxiously for payments to arrive, I have my credit cards maxed out and am spending three to four hours a day on the phone calling my customers requesting money.""What?" I interrupted him, "You're spending hours on the phone calling customers because they haven't paid?""Yes, I started this 'net 30' sales strategy that I read in a book. It has worked wonders with our sales results, but it has drained my cash resources. I'm waiting for things to get better, but I don't see this happening anytime soon," said Tom.Tom's "net 30" strategy demands that customers give a full payment within 30 days. If Tom had a "net 30" $1000 invoice, it means that his client must pay in full on or before the 30th calendar day of when his goods were delivered.To answer your question, what are the biggest money mistakes that small businesses commonly make?Tom was completely focused on growing his sales while ignoring cash flow.This is a common mistake small businesses make that quickly becomes a nightmare.What can we learn from Tom's mistake?Tom's sales strategy was to delay incoming cash:He performed the job.He sent the invoice.He got paid (hopefully) 30 days later.While Tom waited for payments, he had to pay for everything: materials, labor, and the company's fixed expenses. Even though Tom had similar "net30" or "net45" agreements with his vendors, he never expected this to happen.Businesses die without cash flow.As entrepreneurs, we're commonly so focused on startup expenses and business growth that we can easily ignore the working capital that business growth demands.Cash flow management is among the biggest money mistakes nearly every small business makes.

For all the reasons that people can list about why small businesses fail, I think that there are fundamentally only two:Lack of Profitability: Not generating sufficient revenue in excess of the expenses paid to achieve that revenue andInsufficient cashflow: Not being able to pay your bills when they became due for payment.Many times the two are interrelated for a startup small business, where it did not have sufficient working capital to fund the losses until the business reached break-even. So under-capitalisation could easily be argued as being the main cause of small business failure in the startup phase.Once a small business is operational, it must face various challenges to remain financially viable. Small business failures in this phase are identified in this answer by the business insolvency expert Chris Baskerville to What are the top reasons why startups fail? His summary identifies the following key reasons as to why small businesses fail:Lack of capital - not having sufficient capital to obtain key infrastructure (such as: plant and equipment) by inception; and having sufficient cash flow to fund the day-to-day operations.Expanding too soon - sudden expansion of their business into another geographic location that stretches logistic capabilities and dramatically increases overhead expenditure.Heavy reliance on debt funding: Debt payments are now cemented in time and you need your business to get to the Break-Even Point (BEP) as fast as possible. Not achieving your BEP or, not achieving your 'critical mass' (some people prefer to use the term 'scale') in time, may mean further borrowings to keep your small business afloat.Poor strategic management: Small business owners maybe great (if not fantastic) at their particular trade, they are not groomed nor educated for business. Business is its own wild animal. One wrong move and it can eat you alive.No business plan: Planning your business forces you to seriously think about all areas of your business and not just the fluffy parts of your business like "sales" or "profit". Meticulous details like: operations, employee ramp-up, funding and forecast financials and logistics are needed to be considered.

Over the last 6 years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet with over 100 founders and executives all over the world to hear their stories and secrets to success. This past week I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with Mike Kirby, the President of Lumina Solar to hear his story of how he went from being laid off to building a one million dollar business in just 100 days. He was nice enough to share with me the key lessons he’s learned along the way. This is his story.One year ago, Mike lost his job.One day, he received an email from the company stating that were was an all hands meeting at 8 a.m. The night before, he had been hearing rumors that something might happen.And it did. It turned out the solar company he worked at wanted to move in a different direction. Residential solar was no longer in their plans. This meant Mike and his team were no longer needed, even after a great five year run.So what did Mike do next?He bounced back.Deep down, he knew he had an intense passion to building a solar company that would help people live on a sustainable energy platform. So he collaborated with a group of investors, raised the funds to start the business and launched it with 3 other co-founders (Colin, Ryan and Zac).Lumina Solar was born. 100 days later, Lumina hit 1 million in revenue.Here are the top 10 business lessons I learned from Mike:Have a strong why - Mike didn’t start a solar company just because he wanted to start a business. He started Lumina because he cared deeply about making an impact on people’s businesses and lives and in providing a solution that helped make the world a more environmentally friendly and efficient place. This passion for purpose is what fuels Mike’s motivation. Find a strong why to fuel your motivation.Roll up your sleeves and make it happen - When Mike first started the business, he would literally drive around with his sales team to different commercial buildings in D.C. to look for potential clients. They would drop by a business, going door to door and patiently explain how their solar solution could help a business save money. In one of these meetings, they showed an owner of an auto body shop how he could save 50% on average on his electric bill and over $100,000 over 25 years with no upfront cost. Soon after that meeting, they closed a $150,000 deal. Don’t wait for the business to come. Get out there and make it happen.Take care of the people around you - Throughout his life, Mike worked with many clients and partners over the years. He treated everyone with respect and kindness. He focused on doing the right thing and doing everything he could to take care of people. When he launched Lumina Solar and made the news public, these same people rallied around Mike to help support his business. Take care of the people around you and they will take care of you.Celebrate your wins - Every 90 days, Mike writes an email to the team highlighting their progress and wins in great detail. While it does take a tremendous amount of time, Mike finds that this helps to keep everyone aligned to the vision and also inspires people to be at their very best. It’s also a great way to make sure people know they’re being recognized for the great work that they’re doing. This helps with team morale. People love to feel appreciated for their hard work.You go further together as a team - One of the first things Mike realized was that Lumina needed to have a strong team in place in order to scale the business. So what did he do? He focused intensely on hiring the best and brightest. Within 100 days, he had a team of 10 people in place to help build the business. You can move quickly alone, but you go further with a great team.Just start - Ever since Mike graduated in 2009, he had been working in the solar industry. He applied to every single solar company in the Mid-Atlantic and finally landed his first job as an intern. He got paid $8 / hour. Soon after he joined his boss that formed his own solar startup and learned an incredible amount in sales, operations, installs, permitting and much more. It was a lot of work, but Mike loved the hustle. For the next three years, Mike would work as a top sales rep at another solar company. Eventually, he would start his own company. The moral of the story? Don’t overthink things. Just get started - the momentum will get you going.Be intensely customer centric - One of the key philosophies that Mike believes is in the importance of customer centricity. He constantly focused on how Lumina could provide a great ROI for his clients and a seamless buying and installation experience. Because of this customer centric approach, Lumina was able to quickly launch an offering that was highly differentiated in the marketplace. This helped them secure many of their largest deals in the initial 100 days. Focus on the customer first and things will fall into place from there.Remember the big picture - It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind. Sometimes it feels like progress is slow on a daily basis. Mike likes to remind his team to take a step back every now and then to look at the picture. This helps to put things into perspective and to help keep people aligned to the ultimate goal. Reminding the team to focus on the big picture keeps them excited about the future you’re building together.Implement process to scale - One of the things Mike has focused on is putting in place a set of processes to ensure that the business can scale. For example, one of the challenges Mike saw in the past in sales departments was the lack of standardization around sales proposal templates. This meant each salesperson had their own version of a sales proposal. The branding and messaging were inconsistent and it didn’t create a consistent customer experience. So what did he do at Lumina? He’s making sure everyone is using the same template. Process helps make workflows repeatable.Dig deep and you’ll find something special - After Mike was laid off, Mike took some time off. Wanting to clear his head, Mike took a flight to Tanzania and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world. It was a 6 day hike that spanned 37 miles. The weather was freezing. It was hard to breath in the high elevation. Every step he took was tougher than the last. There were times he wanted to give up. It was one of the toughest challenges he had been through. But he finished it.And then a realization hit him.Accomplishing this hike made him think, “If I can do this, what else am I capable of?”Soon after, Mike returned home. Eventually, a few investors in Mike’s professional network came to him with a proposal. They wanted to invest into a solar business with him, with Mike as the President. They knew he was a experienced, passionate and an incredible leader. In their mind, Mike was the right person to lead this company.Mike began to build a business plan late on a Friday night with Colin, Ryan and Zac (his co-founders) They stayed up until 3 a.m. outlining how they would build the business.At the end of the night, they looked at each other and asked, “Do we have what we need to succeed? Can we do it?”The answer was unanimously yes.Lumina solar was born.100 days later, they hit one million in revenue.I hope Mike’s story inspires you.Now it’s your time to make it happen.Start. Now.Because it’s never too late to make an impact.