Paying the Rent

by bixentro

Nobody enjoys when the Landlord visits to collect the rent. This post was inspired by my friend @bertipr’s thoughts on Obama’s visit to the island. I am glad I have enough projects to be able to pay the bills these last few months. I have been in survival mode and it has not been easy task to accomplish.

I guess many of us are in the same boat when it comes to working to stay in the game. I have been in survival mode for three years; I  lost my house and many other luxuries I thought I needed. Although I have cut back significantly, I still  stress out every time I need to get things paid and I don’t have enough cash in the bank because a customer has not paid me on time.

I guess many of us have luxuries in life that we don’t want to get rid off. Some of us really need to focus and look at what can be removed which in many occasions can improve our situations.   So many small businesses are barely surviving and I really admire the commitment and sacrifices that many small business owners put in everyday.  Many others have disappeared;  I give it my best everyday so I don’t have to become a statistic.

Steps I go Through when the money is not coming in:

I take a look at my bills and expenses to see what can be removed that will not affect my income capabilities. Some people cut expenses without seeing the impact an expense can take into producing more income.  I divide my expenses into income producing expenses and non income producing expenses. For example if I pay for a service that helps me keep track of clients and bring in income like my cell phone for example which I use to communicate with clients I can’t remove that expense. Another example is eliminating a magazine subscription geared towards my profession because I could probably go online to read the magazine.

Organize Myself to Spend Less

I take a look at how I am spending. I also try to save on gas and travel expenses by getting more done on one trip to the supermarket etc.

I reach out to people I trust

These last few months some great people I trust have referred me for several projects and have even spread the word around about how well I work with others. Some people rather keep financial issues to themselves when things are rough but there are always people willing to help. These individuals can make the difference in getting you back on track and believe me it is a great experience to have them on your team.

I touch base with dormant clients

Some clients are so into what they are doing that they might have a project that they left on the side which you can probably handle. Others are so busy you might be able to take a load off their plate while producing income.

I look into how I am selling my services

I started CIMA IT Solutions in June 2008 and in 3 years our website has seen multiple changes from layout, to logo, content, and structure. I still think I need to work with it further as it is a work in process (like every website should be). I also went ahead and changed my work with me page here on my blog so you could get a better idea of how I can work with you or you can probably spread the word to others and help me land my next gig.

Collaborating on other projects

I always try to keep myself busy with @lucymfel. I run Veglatino.com, @twitpuerto, Papaheroes.com ( along the awesome Digital Artist and Dad @ricklipsett), and a few other projects where I collaborate with many great individuals. This also gives me a platform so people can see my work like for example how I write blog posts, how we set up websites, and how I am able to handle multiple projects online while keeping the conversation going. So if you have some time and are a small business owner look into working on something that might help you build a stronger bond with your community.

These are a few things that I do when I enter survival mode to make sure I can at least pay the rent.

How do you handle when you have flags of having a financial crisis around the corner? Any tips we can all follow?