Have the funding conversation before the squeeze, not during it

The worst time to ask a bank or a client for help with cash is the week you cannot make payroll, because by then you are negotiating from weakness and everyone can smell it. A forecast maintained monthly shows the tight month coming while it is still three months away, when an overdraft is arranged calmly, a payment schedule renegotiated, or a materials order timed to land after a receipt. The forecast does not create the cash; it buys the time to arrange it on your terms.