Cash flow in The Self-Employed Man

Only Cash flow: the latest headlines first, then BRO’s own Cash flow stories and video. All of Self-Employed Men →

Your processor just shut you off. Work the first six hours.

A hold notice at 6:40 a.m. is survivable. What kills companies is the four days people spend arguing with a support queue instead of moving.

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 22, 20266 min

How to price trade work without guessing

Most trade businesses that fold aren't short of work. They're short of margin, because nobody ever worked out what an hour actually costs.

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Pressure-test my business idea

Ask it

GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20266 min

The four-digit number that decides how your business gets paid

Your merchant category code sets your interchange, your customers' rewards, and whether a corporate card will even approve you. Most operators never check it.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

Business6 min read

What your processor means when it calls you high risk

The label isn't a moral judgment. It's a bet on who pays for your refunds if you disappear, and you can change the odds.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

GuideBusinessSam OrtizSep 23, 20266 min

Raising your prices after years of charging too little

The arithmetic, the email, the script for pushback, and the one situation where you should hold off.

GuideBusinessSam OrtizSep 23, 20266 min

Profitable and broke is a real place

Your P&L can say you made money in a month you couldn't make payroll. Both things are true, and only one of them can close you down.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

GuideBusinessSam OrtizSep 23, 20266 min

Getting paid on time starts before you send the invoice

Deposits, due dates, PO numbers and a chase ladder that works — the small print that decides whether cash turns up in 14 days or 74.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 22, 20266 min

Most late invoices are a process problem, not a people problem

The awkward conversation about money is one you can mostly avoid, if you do the unglamorous work before the job starts.

GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 22, 20266 min

Run your week off one page of numbers

Monthly financials land three weeks too late to change anything. A twenty-minute Monday review on a single page will.

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Rehearse the raise conversation with me

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GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 22, 20265 min

The weekly numbers that keep a small business out of trouble

Monthly accounts tell you what already happened. These eight figures, reviewed every week on one page, tell you what's about to.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

PartnerCancerDefying.com

GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 22, 20265 min

The numbers to check every Monday before you open your email

Your monthly P&L arrives three weeks late and tells you what already happened. A one-page weekly review tells you what's about to.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

That’s everything on Cash flow in Self-Employed Men.

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