????所有企業都可以向好市多（Costco）學習重要的一課。好市多是一家快速成長的倉儲零售商，在截至今年9月的財年中獲得1030億美元銷售收入，稅前盈利達30億美元。它的會員費收入為23億美元，約占企業利潤的75％。

????如此巨大的現金流使好市多有錢開設新店，通過建新店，好市多有望獲得15％的投資回報。而且會員續約費收入毫無放緩的跡象。好市多首席財務官、執行副總裁理查德?加蘭蒂說：“我們的會員續約率年年攀升，現在已經超過了90％。”這也難怪，畢竟，好市多僅在產品成本價基礎上加價約11％向顧客銷售。另外，這家公司還推出了大受歡迎的高級會員計劃，參與者需要繳納比普通會員更高的會費，但他們能夠獲得額外的折扣和獎勵。這個計劃大大提升了顧客的忠誠度，而且帶來了大量的會員費收入。

????正如我此前所寫，創業的頭號定律就是增長需要資金。為了推動企業快速增長，必須縮短資金周轉周期。簡單地說，資金周轉周期就是你收回投資于企業的1美元所需要的時間。而像好市多這樣，尋找到內部產生現金的來源，使企業快速獲得現金收入，能夠加速資金周轉周期。如此一來，就能推遲企業不得不四處求人、借錢來發展的時點。要知道，四處借錢會大大減緩企業發展速度，而且往往徒勞無功。

????下面是另外幾種縮短資金周轉周期的策略。

????1. 縮短銷售周期。要知道，發掘客戶可是一筆不菲的成本。絕大部分公司都忽略了一點：開展銷售的速度越快，公司獲得回報的速度就也越快（當然，將競爭對手拒之門外的可能性也就越大）。光靠郵件絕對不夠，拿起電話、或者與客戶面對面交流才是正道。與其輾轉反復地花上3天時間郵件溝通，不如花上20分鐘打一通電話，它能讓你更輕松地拿下訂單。

????2.不要犯錯。很少有老板能意識到，從商品交付到發票送出的這段時間，即便是非常細微的錯誤，也可能嚴重拖慢回款速度。一個對錯誤耿耿于懷的顧客絕不會爽快地掏錢。

????許多新創新業在遞送發票這個環節都犯了錯誤。他們實在太忙了，忙著生產，忙著銷售，于是一些文字性的繁雜工作就被疏忽了。哪怕一家大企業，就算是發票用錯格式這類小兒科錯誤都會延緩回款好幾周，甚至幾個月。

????如果自己不能搞定發票，那就請專業人士來幫忙。他們應該對客戶與應收賬款有關的財務系統了若指掌，確保你的發票準確無誤，能非常迅速地遞送到客戶手中。據我所知，有一家公司聘請了一位專家負責應收賬款系統，使得整個公司的現金周轉周期縮短了15天之多。雖然你必須多付出一個人的薪水，但物有所值。在應收帳款方面精打細算看起來沒錯，實際是因小失大。

????Every business can learn an important lesson from Costco. The fast-growing warehouse retailer did $103 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending in September, with pre-tax earnings of $3 billion. Membership fees brought in $2.3 billion -- equal to about 75% of its profit.

????That influx of cash helps the company pay for new stores, where it looks to get about a 15% cash-on-cash return on investment in building them. And renewals show no signs of slowing down. "Our membership renewal rates have gone up each year and now exceed 90%," notes CFO and executive vice president Richard Galanti. That's not surprising, given that Costco only charges customers a markup on its products of about 11%. Those in Costco's (COST) popular Executive Membership program, which charges a higher membership fee than its basic membership, get extra discounts and rewards -- a great loyalty builder that keeps those membership fees rolling in.

????As I've written before, the first entrepreneurial law of gravity is that growth sucks cash. To fuel rapid growth, you've got to master the cash conversion cycle -- which, simply put, is the time it takes to get a dollar back that you've spent on the business. Finding a source of internally generated cash to get money into the business quickly, as Costco has done, can speed that cycle. It delays the point at which you have to go out and beg and borrow money to grow, a project that can slow you down greatly and doesn't always bear fruit.

????Here are some other strategies to make the cash conversion cycle work in your favor.

????1. Shorten the sales cycle. It can cost you a lot of money to go after customers. Most companies don't think about the fact that the faster you can land a sale, the quicker you can get a return on that investment (and the more likely you are to block competitors from getting there first). Get off email and pick up the phone or meet your customer face to face. Spending 20 minutes this way will bring you closer to a sale more quickly than going back and forth by email for three days.

????2. Eliminate errors. Most entrepreneurs don't think about how even tiny mistakes -- anywhere from the delivery of the product to the invoice -- can slow payments dramatically. A customer who is upset about an error you made is going to be slower to pay.

????Many entrepreneurial companies get sloppy about sending out invoices. They're so busy making and selling things that their paperwork starts to slip. Even something as simple as using the wrong format for an invoice can delay your payment for weeks or months at a big company.

????If you can't stay on top of invoicing, hire someone to help you. This person should get to know the accounts payable people at any big companies you serve, and make sure your invoices are structured right, so they flow through clients' systems as quickly as possible. At one company I know, hiring a pro to handle accounts receivable helped cut 15 days out of its cash conversion cycle. Yes, you will have to pay an extra person to do this job -- but it's worth it. Shortchanging your accounts payable function is pennywise, but dollar foolish.