Cash flow is king, especially in slow times. One way to speed up your cash flow, of course, is to shorten your terms, say from 60 days to 45.  That frees up over $1million for a business with $25 million in annual revenues. But when the economy is flagging you may not want to ask your customers to take shorter terms. Here are two ways to improve cash flow without pushing your customers to pay more quickly.

First, tighten up your billing process.  It’s not uncommon for a company to take as long as two weeks to get invoices out the door. If you’re a $25 million dollar company, every working day you take preparing invoices ties up almost $96,000!. Cut three or four days from your processing cycle, and you’re talking real money.

Second, offer discounts to customers who accept shorter terms. If you’re now offering 45 days, you might suggest a 3% discount to anyone who accepts 30. On a $10,000 order, that will cost you $300. But if  getting the $9700 fifteen days early helps you make a payroll or pay a vendor without drawing on your line of credit, you’re well ahead of the game. And remember that everyone else is looking for savings now. A discount policy for people who pay promptly may get you some new customers.

If believe your IQ is fixed, you probably won’t get any smarter. But if you believe you can learn new things you will. That’s the message of a study by Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck and others. People who believe they’re getting smarter tend to study harder, persist in the face of setbacks, and create wider neural networks, all of which makes them, well, smarter.

Isn’t it amazing what the right attitude can do?

According to an article in this month’s Wired, a little caffeine goes a long way. As the day progresses, your brain produces adenosine which is thought to create mental fatigue. Caffeine blocks the brain’s adenosine receptors, so you don’t lose your focus. But test subjects report that they felt clearheaded and calm-and thus ready for optimal performance-when they consumed small doses of caffeine throughout the day. So skip the Venti French roast and try cups of tea (with its lower dose of caffeine) throughout the day. And have a small high carb snack at the same time: it seems that glucose and caffeine together clear your head better than either does alone. The sacrifices you have to make to keep alert!