By Chris Cook

Money has a cruel way of making or breaking business. Some say you must spend money to make it (the government seems to get half this model) others say you shouldn’t spend money until you make it. Still another school of thought says you need to borrow against the future to fund the present and pay for the past (the current government model). Regardless of your school of thought, money is an ever-present constant that drives or crashes your business.

Although more money doesn’t solve every issue, it does make dealing with challenges less stressful. So how do you live another day when things get tight? Yeah, I know the stress of this situation leaves you praying for the local pro ball team to stop in for a no-holds-barred shopping fest. But if that doesn’t happen you might stop to take a deep breath and look for ways to make some money today while doing your best to save a little as well.

The doors are open with no installs scheduled and your first three walk-ins want something repaired that the installer you let go a month ago didn’t quite get right. Your sales guy is running late (probably putting in a job application at the local Starbucks) and you look out the front window and see the tumbleweeds rolling through the parking lot. If this sounds at all similar to your day then you are in luck!

Cleaning and organizing can help to get your head on straight. It also sets the stage for some customer traffic. Seems like every time I started straightening up customers would show up and interrupt things (I’m just saying). Then desperation would take hold and drive me to review last month’s invoices looking for customers who could use some more stuff for their cars. I would start with my top 10 picks then categorize the rest by potential. Next, I would get down my pitch and start making calls. The pitch can be anything that gets customers in the door. Try the system tune-up angle or the direct-sell by offering what they still need to make their system complete. Whatever your pitch, remember the mission: get customers in the door. You can sell once that happens. I can attest to finishing out the end of many months on the positive by providing an additional level of customer service that fills the cash register with money, money, money!