For some people, trying to keep hold of money is like maintaining a bullet train in mid-transit. No matter what you do, those finances race away from you. And alas, that journey will terminate at Bankruptcy Station, a destination where it’s painstakingly difficult to purchase a return ticket.

For one person to mismanage their finances is foolish. But to mismanage an entire businesses’ financial portfolio? Foolishness beyond reproach.

If you’re overseeing your own SME, the onus is on you to ensure that your cash flow is up to scratch, and there’ll be hell to pay if you don’t keep it ticking along satisfactorily.

With a business debt, you could become financially insolvent. Banks will avoid you like the plague, even for the most trivial of transactions, and potential corporate backers will stop returning your calls as though you’re a clingy ex.

This is a nightmare scenario, but it doesn’t have to be this way. You can slow that bullet train right down, turning it into a steam engine friendlier than Thomas the Tank Engine on ecstasy.

How can you pull off this spectacular administrative feat? For one, we’d recommend you follow a few of these tips.

Check with the professionals

You’re the big boss, the Don Corleone of your organisation. But while that means you have to show a certain degree of authority, you don’t have to face the problems of running an organisation alone.

This rule applies two-fold if you know jack-diddly-squat about a certain area of your company. And it applies three-fold if the world of finances leaves you scratching your head more than a dunce at the Annual Rocket Science convention.

Getting in touch with professionals who understand the legal side of business finance is a wise move, and we’d wager on a company like Switalskis. Give them a call if you’re an English company in need of advice.

Cut out the credit cards

There are plenty of benefits to giving the upper tier of your management their own company credit cards. It shows that you trust and respect them.

But for every 10 employees that respect you, there’ll be one that’ll abuse that card like they had four hours to live.

If you want a tight leash on your cash flow, we’d recommend keeping company credit card usage to a minimum.

Don’t leap!

Making giant leaps in your business plan is about as advisable as drinking arsenic for breakfast, and just as lethal to your SME.

Baby steps are a must in the development of your company. If you jump foot-first into a new business proposition without appropriate financial backing, for instance, you’re gambling the monetary health of your company – and the odds are stacked against you.

Those are our tips. Are you a financial expert who reckons they can help SMEs? Or maybe you’re a business owner who went bust after a few too many bad decisions? Either way, let us know in the comments below.