Cash – the entity that really does cut through all the barriers of business life. How are you doing for it?
It strikes me that the leisure marine sector in particular always has cycles of cash shortage, made worse by perpetually repeating the same moves.
When payment terms have been extended and demand increases (as stocks decrease and delivery periods extend) how do you square the circle and save yourself from over trading?
Should the industry start to think the unthinkable and start to rationalise the offering to the customer?
Let me explain my thought.
Why in an industry which has always had such a strong contact network (we’re all swimming in what is a small sea of businesses) have more companies not joined together to offer a complete solution to their customers problems?
Supply solutions
We see some companies forming partnerships to make themselves stronger but think what could happen if even more went down the same path.
Think what would happen if instead of a customer having to buy a series of manufactured parts from three or four suppliers could receive the complete solution from one source…
Could this be a fairy story? Look at other sectors that provide complete supply solutions for their major customers and see the benefit this tie in gives to everyone.
It would save your customers time and effort, create efficiency and speed the supply process up. This would then enable them to pay you much faster putting cash back into your business quicker.
Think of the putting the world to right discussions that are had at every boat show and event. But instead of just talking, think of taking some positive action. You trust your fellow suppliers after all…
