Failure to understand your cash position and current and future cash needs can ruin a business, even a profitable one.The sad truth is that cash-flow surprises kill many startups. Overall, 90 percent of small-business failures are caused by poor-cash flow, according to Dunn & Bradstreet. To prevent becoming part of the 90 percent, you’€™ll need to maintain a focus on cash. When it comes to the financial management of a growing company, always remember that cash is king. Even when you grow, you want to have the financial discipline to keep a tight reign on costs. This is even more important in early stages when cash is king.

“Even when you grow, you want to have the financial discipline to keep a tight reign on costs.” 

• Work Virtually. In this new age of technology, it’s possible to work from just about anywhere: from home, in your car, at the airport, or in a hotel room. By working virtually and allowing your employees to do the same it’s not necessary to take on the expense of establishing an office when you’re launching your business.
• Outsourcing. You can find outsource partners to provide just about any product or service you need. Outsourcing turns what would normally be a fixed cost into a variable cost because you only use the service when you need it.
• Go Offshore. You can obtain a variety of services for freelancers outside the United States at a far lower rate.
• Mentors and Advisors. Instead of paying for advice on legal, accounting, funding or other key business issues, use your brain trust of mentors and advisors as much as you can for advice, feedback, and meeting other important contacts.
• Interns. Universities throughout the country are packed with undergraduate and in some cases graduate students eager to gain real life experience. Many need tight management but can be a great resource.
• Barter or Trade. Bartering — swapping one thing for another — has been an effective way of doing business for centuries. In recent years, bartering has evolved into a sound strategy for finding goods, trading services, conserving cash, moving inventory, and locating excess production capacity. The International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) helps match up companies interested in bartering for goods and services.
• Distributors, Reps, and Affiliate Partners. Most industries have distributors, manufacturers’ representatives, and affiliate partners who will sell your products through their existing distribution channels, which can be extensive. This is a great way to build sales quickly and conserve cash because you don’t pay the partner until your products are sold.
• Commissioned Sales Force. Use a commission sales program when you’re ready to hire team members to sell. This will attract people who really believe in you, your products, and your purpose. It also conserves cash by keeping your fixed costs low.
• Advertising. Advertising takes money. Besides, a lot of startups are still figuring out what they are doing in the first six months. Instead, ramp up your social media presence during this time. If you must advertise, experiment with low cost alternatives such as Facebook Promoted Posts and Twitter Promoted Tweets.
• Invention Services. If you have an invention that you think could be valuable, go to a patent attorney – not to an invention promotion service. U.S. patent law recently switched to a first to file system. You could lose rights by not taking the correct steps promptly, and only an attorney can advise you.
• Take it To the Cloud. If you have in-house servers, you know they can be costly to maintain and update. Just like with freelancers, cloud servers and storage let you pay for what you need, and they allow you to ramp up or down as your business needs change.
• Buy in Bulk. Some business service providers offer a 10 percent or greater discount if you pay for six months or more in advance. And vendors for inventory and supplies may offer trade terms, where they allow you to pay early in exchange for a discount.

There are plenty of needs for your cash and hopefully some of these will help preserve some of it.