This month, we’re focusing on the growth of your business to celebrate our release of three new bundles of COATS Staffing Software and options that capture the three different stages of a business’s growth. Earlier this month, we looked at the startup phase of a business’s growth, and one of the most crucial things to have when starting a business is: sufficient funding.
It’s especially tricky for staffing firms, because we have to “float” our associates’ pay before we get reimbursed by our clients, and those first few orders can run cash reserves out quickly. And while it’s essential to have your banker on your business advisory team, banks aren’t always the best places to look for funding, given the increasingly strict requirements for lending.
That’s why we recommend our Integrated Partner, Advance, for funding. Not just because their systems integrate seamlessly with COATS, but because they give staffing firms the options they need to get through cash-lean times and because of their experience and depth of knowledge in staffing itself.
Of course, startups aren’t the only type of business that can benefit from additional funding. As the case studies on Advance’s web site point out, having credit available allows firms in the growth stage to expand and match, then better, their competitors.
Even power-user companies would be advised to have a resource like Advance on hand in case of unusual, large orders. One such firm used Advance to meet the unusually high demand of a Gulf-area cleanup job that suddenly increased the firm’s billing by 600%.
So no matter where you are in your business’s growth, having access to the right funding can mean the difference between growing and flourishing… and withering on the vine.
What experiences have you had with funding? Let us know in the comments!