In an ideal world, no business leader or company executive would ever find themselves facing up to the prospect of financial disaster. In reality, unfortunately, serious financial problems can afflict companies of any size and in any field.

The approach taken by business leaders under these circumstances can be crucial in determining the outcome of events and there are ways in which bosses can help make the best of bad situations. Below are some worthwhile action points if you’re leading a company that’s struggling to stay afloat and to fend off its creditors. 

Starting a new business comes with many challenges, including getting to fully operational status in a reasonable amount of time.

If you're struggling to get your startup off the ground, there are a number of steps you can take in order to get the ball rolling.

Enterprise resource planning, best known as ERP, is a type of software that streamlines and coordinates day-to-day business processes. All the information you need to run your business is put into a database and linked to the various departments, so orders are always in sync with inventory, and production can match sales, making everything much more efficient. Obviously, this is a great thing for larger businesses, which have hundreds or thousands of orders per day. But what about the smaller businesses? Is it worth the money to invest in new software and the effort to learn it?

Influencer marketing is one of the top digital buzzwords of 2015. A quick look on Google Trends shows that search frequency for the term has tripled since the beginning of the year.

For those still in the dark, influencer marketing is the practice of targeting well known and influential brands or people, aiming to leverage their audience for your own marketing needs. It’s especially useful for gaining exposure for new blogs when they’re yet to establish a following of their own.

Businesses small and large are always looking for ways to cut costs without cutting the quality of their services and products. Here are five of the simplest ways you can save big time.

Free Advertising

Marketing takes up huge percentages of small business budgets. The best way to advertise without paying for it is to volunteer. You cannot afford to work for free, but you can dramatically increase your potential customer base by running an hour long clinic at a local church or community center, getting on the board of a non-profit, or organizing community events. Getting people to view an advertisement is a largely passive exercise, but shaking hands and thrusting yourself into the middle of the communities you do business in will make lasting impressions that people will remember.

What sets you apart from the competition?

Some business owners may say it is their customer service. Others may say it is their employees, those in fact who lead to better customer service. Still others may pinpoint that their advertising and marketing initiatives keep them a step ahead of their rivals.

Even though remote database administration services are relatively new, it has already become extremely competitive as customers are facing the heat due to economic slowdown and other environmental factors and are negotiating service contracts for maximum bang for buck. As a result, remote DBA service providers have tended to offer a complete suite of services extending far beyond just database administration. Of course, the accent remains on their ability to maintain databases with the maximum uptime and to resolve any issues quickly. It is vital that resellers learn to appreciate the necessity of having a strong support team and the various constraints of offering remote DBA services that meet customer requirements while establishing a reputation for dependability.

You have a brilliant idea for a start-up, and you want to introduce your concept to customers as soon as possible. After all, if you don't act fast, someone else could develop a similar business model. Still, you hesitate to proceed because you don't feel confident about your money-management skills. Set aside your worries! As you prepare to launch your business, apply the financial management hacks below.

Pay-per-click or PPC ads can generate more revenue if you know how to use them to increase your online leads. Fans of PPC strongly advocate for this method of marketing.

However, not all PPC ads have the same results.

You must pay attention to your ads to see which ones are working for you and which ones need updating to garner the kind of results you expect.

Customers today are not only informed, they are actively engaged with brands at multiple levels; making it critical that companies manage highly engaged consumers effectively. One of the most important factors is timing of marketing and sales outreach. Stay quiet too long and a customer will forget. Send an email when a customer spends more decision-making time on social media and the message is lost. Provide testimonials, third party research and product information upfront; the customer may be overwhelmed. OptifiNow, a leader in sales optimization, has created the following tips businesses can use to improve the timing of sales outreach to boost results.