There are few things more worrying than being on an airplane when a problem occurs. I do more than the average amount of flying for my work, my family also live in a different part of the country to me too, so I’ve built up my air miles over the years.

It was just before Christmas in December 2019 and I was making my way back from seeing my Mum and Dad just before Christmas. News had come in that there were storms at home and the flight may be cancelled. It wasn’t, which in hindsight was a bad idea.

We were flying in a twin turbo prop, which are much smaller than the average 737 jet engine and so it’s much easier to feel the bumps during flight.

As we made the final descent into Belfast City airport flying over Belfast Lough we bumped hard as the wind and rain battered the plane, in this kind of weather our plane was bouncing in every direction as the wind gusted.

I’d been on this landing many times so I was aware what landmarks to look out for as we came in. The turn over my home Bangor for final descent, tick. The Culloden Estate hotel, tick. We were getting closer. Holywood town, tick. B&Q and IKEA, we were seconds from landing… then suddenly just as the wheels were about to touch the tarmac the engines roared and the plane pulled up hard into the clouds again.

Those few seconds and minutes seemed to last a lifetime, everything I expected to happen didn’t. We hadn’t made it down and we were flying away again. No one on the plane spoke, the captain said nothing for what seemed like an age. Then over the tannoy they told us the were going around again to try another landing. As you can imagine the plane was silent as were tried again, but this time after a few minutes of palpable fear we were on the ground.

Apparently, we were not in that much danger as this is a common occurrence when flying in windy conditions, but it was an experience I wouldn’t want to try again.

Statistically, flying is one of the safest forms of travel, if not the safest, on the planet. However, because of the sensational headlines produced when a plane crashes we are led to believe it’s not. The data tells me I was more likely to die in the cab home from the airport, my irrational feelings told me otherwise.*

The End Of Your Studio

I wonder what you think will be the thing that ends your studio or your career as an audio freelancer? Over the decades the predictions have come again and again; in the 80s it was the drum machine, then the sampler, then the home recording revolution. Some suggested the Fairlight would do it. More recently some have bemoaned the advance of AI tools for mixing, online mastering and platforms like Splice and LANDR.

Yet, throughout every decade the number one threat to your audio business staying alive hasn’t changed. Oddly enough so many people ignore it, even though it’s staring them in the face. In fact the answer is so blindingly obvious it’s insane that so many miss it. The number on thing that will end your studio or your career as an audio professional is that you will run out of money.

You might have a killer studio and be the best name in town, but there may be a studio with half the gear and experience making more money than you AND getting paid!

One of my daughters recently went freelance as a professional hair stylist. She’s done several years working for someone else at a top salon in London and in that time has built up a solid body of work, styling for some top fashion brands and for some big TV shows. She called me to tell me she was going solo, I was delighted. A week later I had a film shoot in London for a new product ad, we needed hair, so I hired her to do the work.

She came and did the work without any issues and all was good, I wouldn’t have expected anything less. That was nearly two weeks ago. I called her a couple of days ago to ask her for the invoice, as I hadn’t received one. I told her how important it is to make sure she gets invoices sent as soon as the work is done. Three days later there is still no invoice for me to pay.

The Golden Rule

Golden rule. Invoice on time, state clear terms, and chase any late payments. Your clients aren’t going to ask for an invoice, will assume the longest possible terms, or if not, just pay it when asked as no terms were stated. When it comes to paying, most companies won’t pay until asked and then won’t pay even then. It may take several more emails and calls before you get paid.

Guess how long the mortage company or landlord is going to wait for their payment? Or guess how long the utilities companies are going to wait for their money? Or if you have staff, how long do you think they can wait to get paid? Not as long as some of us wait for money from clients!

So many small business owners, either with premises and staff or just those working from home, ignore the single most important thing to keep their business alive… keeping the cash coming in.

Last year I wrote in detail about getting paid fast, 5 Ways To Make Sure You Get Paid Fast, check out the tips in that article.

One really important point about clients who do and don’t pay. Thank your prompt payers and also reward them by making sure that whenever work needs doing they get priority treatment. Put bad payers to the back of the queue, that’s ‘work’ you don’t need.

Now Is The Time

Many of us are facing a cost of living crisis with fuel costs rising and inflation at record highs in several countries. In many cases it’s getting worse with exponential rises in the cost of several critical things.

Now is a good time to get on top of making sure you have good cash flow in your business. It’s no good having $25,000 worth of projects but because of a poor invoicing and payment management you run out of cash. Many business do exactly that, they run out of money even when they are busy.

Stop worrying about the things that might put you out of business and start thinking about something that will if you ignore it - cashflow is king.

Photo by lilartsy

*The airplane story is an extract from Russ Hughes’ book The Book Dad Told Me Not to Write: You Can Run a Better Business with These Simple Words of Wisdom