For many new businesses, having enough money to keep things going can be the biggest challenge they face. So when your reserves start getting dangerously low but you don’t want to give up on your business, you’ve got to find some way to fund your operations and keep things going.

To help you figure out how you can make this happen, here are three ways to keep your business afloat when you’ve run out of money.

Learn To Better Prioritize

When you no longer have enough money to keep your business running as usual, you’ve got to start learning how to better prioritize. This way, you can be putting your time, money, and energy into the most vital parts of your business that will allow you to keep things going for as long as possible.

Once you’ve determined what you absolutely need to keep things running for your business, you should then start only putting money toward these critical functions until you have enough money to move further down your prioritized list. While this might mean quite a few other things will be slipping through the cracks, if you’re able to keep your head above water until you’re able to make some more money and get things back to normal, it will be worth it.

Create A Clear Payment Structure For Clients

If the type of business that you have relies on clients paying for after they’ve already received their products or services, then you might want to see how many outstanding accounts you’re carrying and what you can do to get these payments in.

Especially if you’ve been lax about these things in the past, reach out to your clients about the terms of your agreements and what your expectations for payment are. Reaffirm the dates in which payments are due and what the consequences for late payments are, like certain fees. Additionally, to encourage people to pay you on-time, you might want to offer a small discount for accounts that are settled before their due date, as this could get some of your clients paying you quicker to avoid bigger bills.

Consider Seeking A Loan For Cash

When your only option is to get cash right now in order to keep your business alive, you might need to start seeking out some loan options. With this cash, you’ll be able to use the money for whatever you need in order to keep things going.

If there are very specific things that you’re needing to get a loan for, you might have better luck getting that specific business funding. And while you’ll need to end up paying this money back, this will hopefully be something you’ll be able to do now that your business is on better financial footing.

If your business is about to run out of money, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you see how you might be able to keep things going.