Many small business owners think they are home free when they secure large corporate or government accounts. That’s just not the reality because it can indeed be the start of a really challenging road ahead with regards to cash flow. An entrepreneur that doesn’t understand this issue will have a rude awakening. Now then, let’s use the example of a mobile car washing and fleet washing business, so I can explain all of this to you.

Beware of taking on too many accounts too quickly, especially government vehicle cleaning contracts. They often pay very slow – and when cities, counties, states, and federal agencies are cutting costs, they tend to string out payments to time-spans that you wouldn’t have expected. I can remember receiving “vouchers” from the California Highway Patrol and CalTrans for washing their vehicles on several occasions when the State of California didn’t approve their state budget on time. That wasn’t very funny – imagine taking those to the bank to deposit? The teller looks at you like you are a Martian trying to make a deposit in Mars Planetary Units?

Many agencies have sent me payments 120-days late, without any increase in the invoice, even with a contract stating that 2% was agreed upon for payments over 60-days. This has occurred with cleaning school bus fleets, county snow removal vehicles, municipal pool cars, and police department vehicles. And very large corporate fleets, especially utility companies are notoriously slow, you always eventually get your money, but it doesn’t help if you have bills to pay now. Payday loan can be used as the immediate option to meet your emergency cash requirement. Payday loan is the easily available short term loan, which is popular in various other names such as cash advance and check loans.

Think of it this way, when you take on a large account of this type you are really buying the account and becoming their revolving line of credit, thus you are a bank philosophically speaking, worse, you can’t earn the interest that banks do and often eat that cost, even if your contract says they must pay you by a certain date after the invoice is received.

Okay so, what should you do? Well not long ago I was discussing all this with a mobile car washing and fleet washing entrepreneur in the state of Alabama. I suggested to him that he should still attempt to get larger fleet accounts, because those were his bread-and-butter accounts, but in the meantime to get as many “on the spot cash paying customers” as possible, therefore he could pay his operating expenses, workers which have to be paid weekly or biweekly, and other expenses until those checks finally come in for the big fleet accounts.

One concept is to have many customers who have personal cars at office buildings and put them on a regular route during the week during the work day. Because during the workday most of the fleets are out, and they can only be cleaned in the evening hours or on the weekends. Being paid on the spot by individuals for washing their cars each week will keep him in the money flow, until those big checks finally come in. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

When hatchbacks were introduced back in the seventies, they were affordable and basic cars without a ton of extra fills or amenities. They were ideal for someone who didn’t want to pay a lot of money for an auto and were willing to sacrifice when it came to luxuries. One of the earliest hatchback was the Pinto. These cars were always available as an option for consumers, however they never became huge sellers.

It looks as if this type of vehicle is regaining popularity with the masses again. The major difference between today’s hatch back is that it comes with air conditioning, a stereo system, power seats and all of the amenities we’ve become accustomed to. Add to that the cargo space that is easy to get to and the result is more people are buying them.

Auto companies are aware of the surge in popularity of this model and as a result they are mass producing many more. According to WardsAuto.com, the number of hatchbacks produced and sold in the U.S. jumped by 63 percent during the 2006 to the 2010 model years. In raw numbers that is an increase from 291,853 units to 475,048 units. Meanwhile total car sales fell 23 percent during that period.

One company that has received massive success from its hatchback model is Ford, a producer of the popular Fiesta car. Almost forty percent of the Fiesta sold are hatchbacks. Moreover, 41 percent of the retail sales of the Focus are hatchbacks. That is a pretty good achievement because the Focus hatchback has been available for just a few months.

A large number of automotive makers have added this model to their lineup. For example, Hyundai is offering the Accent, which includes a hatchback model. More than seventy percent of Accent sales were of this model which is much higher than what the company expected. In addition, Chevrolet has introduced a new subcompact called the Sonic, which also includes a hatchback model.

Kia introduced the Forte hatchback and the company said that sales have been phenomenal. The Mazda3 is a model that is produced by the Japanese auto maker. The hatchback accounts for about 25 percent of all Mazda3 sales. The hatchback version is actually more expensive than the sedan; a big change from past years. Toyota has been selling a subcompact called the Yaris since 2006. It also includes a hatchback model.

Remember how back in the days hatchbacks were economy vehicles? Nowadays, even high end brands are producing them. Audi and Porsche are offering hatchback models too. These will be upscale and luxurious cars with enough power and performance for even the most discerning tastes.

Indeed, I guess it goes without saying that no one wants water spots on their cars. It hardly matters if it is a company driver driving a fleet vehicle, or an individual driving their pride and joy BMW, no one wants water spots on their car or on their windows. Ah, the dilemmas of mobile auto detailers and mobile car washes. Now then, if you own a mobile car wash business or a mobile auto detailing company then you realize how important it is to have superior water quality. Often it’s absolutely critical, let me name some for instances.

If you are cleaning the car lots of auto dealerships, then you need to be able to wash them with a spot free rinse. It’s almost impossible to entirely get every vehicle dry, keep up a fast assembly line pace, and prevent all water spots without reverse osmosis, or de-ionized water.

Of course, I can remember times when we were cleaning fleets of vehicles which were black in color, and it was really difficult because to dry off the vehicles by the time they would start to water spot during the hot summer sun. We had many accounts which were limousines, patrol cars, armored cars, and fleets of vehicles with black as their company color.

Without high quality water it was almost impossible to do a decent job, and maintaining that high-quality pure water is a lot more difficult than you might imagine. Just because you have a specific water filtration system doesn’t mean the water won’t get dirty while it flows through your equipment, or after it hits the car. Let me explain a few for instances that could cause you problems.

If you use a de-ionized water filtration system, prior to putting that water into a fresh water storage tank for your pressure washer, there might be dirt inside of your fresh water tank, and that dirt will reattach itself to the very hungry water molecules looking to pick something up. And even if your tank is perfectly clean, what if you have metal fittings on the way to your pressure washer, or what if you’re using a hot-water pressure washer with iron coils that are used to heat the water? In this case your de-ionized water will become re-ionized.

And, don’t forget the car you are spraying or the vehicle you were cleaning has dirt on it, isn’t that the reason you are washing it? If you don’t rinse all the dirt off, your de-ionized water will not do a lick of good and therefore you need the proper water flow, and power behind that water when cleaning. If you are using a sophisticated filtration system to clean your water, but you are still getting water spots, you’d be well advised to check these problems first because chances are that is where your challenges are coming from. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.