Cash flow is the pivotal point of success or failure for every business owner and manager, and it can vary month to month for millions of businesses, in every industry, security included. Strong cash flow can mean success; lack of it can signal a crisis. When there isn’t enough cash, the sales department is generally under significant pressure to perform and the rest of the company has limited resources to accomplish their goals. Most employees have no idea what their employer’s cash flow is, but they may feel the generalized pressure inside of a company that is struggling with cash flow issues. Managers and business owners often look to employees to fix these issues by telling them to sell more, spend less, work longer, call more, try harder, or perform better.
In an effort to see results, managers will sometimes change commission structures or shuffle employees; they will try different strategies until something works to better the situation. Top-floor management often assumes that if sales were better, so would cash flow be. There is some logic to this kind of thinking, but it often isn’t the answer to the problem. On the flip side: employees tend to blame management for poor business practices when there are cash flow problems often because they feel the stress of limited resources and services that make it difficult to do their jobs. The answer is usually more complex and requires an in-depth analysis of the company itself.