Amazon seller Account level reserve, and cash flow problems. Advice needed!

jmb1

We are going on to the Account level reserve DD+7 ((Delivery date + 7 days)) in September having postponed it for a year.

This means that for 3-4 weeks we won't be able to disburse funds from our sales (and therefore won't have a cash flow to pay wages, buy stock, postage and all the other outgoings a small business needs to make.

So I'm looking at advice on what best to do. I realise the best and most obvious would be to save from now until September to cover ourselves but unfortunately we don't have the spare funds. We're attempting to boost sales, but finding it difficult in what is currently quite a quiet period.

Savvy_Sue

Possibly going to depend on your business structure - if you're a Ltd then I'd ask your accountant for advice, especially as the Ltd is a separate entity to 'you' and that may limit your options. 

And obviously I don't know how much you're talking about, but last time I had a major cashflow issue (while waiting for 25% of my pension to be paid as a lump sum after having committed ourselves to replacing all the windows sooner than I'd anticipated), we got a 0% credit card for spending. 

Paid that off, found another, and I've just taken out a third one which is offering me a higher credit limit for a longer period than previously! 

Then there's balance transfers. 

But these are things I've done personally, not in a business capacity. What I did in a business capacity is no longer possible given RTI, so we won't go there!

jmb1

Sorry yes I should have said, i'm not Limited but a sole trader. Needing a bridge amount of about £3k

Savvy_Sue

Right, others may come along with better ideas, but they'll almost certainly include the credit card options. My solutions depend on whether you can just push enough expenditure onto a credit card (0% on purchases), or whether you need a cash injection (0% balance transfer but there may be a fee for that). Needs thought and care, AND an absolute certainty that you'll have a means of repaying at the end of the 0% term. And you put that date in your calendar and make sure it happens!

AND you set up a DD for the minimum monthly repayment as soon as the card arrives!

Start with the main site on Credit Cards and Loans: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/borrowing/ - and Martin usually has something in the newsletter every week.