If you are running your own retail business, then the question of how to reduce your business debt will naturally come up. In today's economic climate, there has never been a better time for small businesses to start looking at ways of reducing their debt. The problem is that most of these retailers have not even considered it as an option until they have reached a critical stage in their business. If you are running a small business and find yourself buried in debt, then there are a number of different options open to you. However, it should be remembered that some of these options can have dire consequences if not properly implemented. So, what are some of the options available?

First of all, you can go in for a consolidation loan. This loan would take the money that you currently owe from many different sources and lump it all into one large loan. It would then be possible to pay off the debt by making one payment per month. The advantage of this option is that you may only have to make one payment per month, which is very convenient. The disadvantage is that the interest rate that you end up paying will be a lot higher than the rate that you would have paid if you were keeping the debt on credit terms. Also, you will lose any potential flexibility that comes from being able to reduce your debt.

You may also decide that your business needs to downsize. For this purpose, you will want to get rid of items that you do not really need and keep those that you do. When you sell items that you do not actually need, then you will be able to free up some of your working capital. This is going to be very helpful in helping to get your business back on its feet again.

There is another way that you may be able to improve your cash-flow situation and that is to offer some sort of contract to your customers. For example, you can agree to give discounts to your customers if they spend a certain amount of money with you within a specified time frame. This way, you will be able to keep your costs down while still having some income left over to continue supporting your business. Of course, this is an agreement that you will need to enter into with your customers.

The Internet has a great many resources available to those who are looking for information on how to reduce your business debt. This includes tutorials that teach you how to work with the management system that most credit card companies use to collect debt. These tutorials can show you how to contact your creditors to negotiate better interest rates and payment terms. You can learn how to write effective letters to your creditors as well.

One way that you can learn how to reduce your business debt is to contact your local Chamber of Commerce. There are many groups that will be able to help you with this. Many of these organizations have been created by the small business community in order to serve their members. If you belong to a trade organization, your local chamber may have many meetings where you can learn how to reduce your business debt.

You should consider looking into cash back business credit cards, such as American Express' Blue Business Cash, Capital One's Spark Cash, and Chase's Ink Card, this way you can earn money in the process of paying for your regular business expenses. You can use the cash that you will receive to pay off some of your store's debt.

Another way that you can learn how to reduce your business debt is to hire a CPA or licensed financial planner. Many store owners who are struggling with debt and other related problems have no one else to turn to for help, especially since they are so busy running their day to day businesses. Getting a Certified Public Accountant or a financial planner, can be a great way to learn how to reduce your business debt.

While learning how to reduce your business debt may seem difficult, it can actually help you immensely. You should not let your business debt go without paying any attention. If you do nothing, soon your business will fail and you will be forced out of business. If you are in a situation where you quickly need to raise cash, you can consider liquidating your merchandise by posting it for sale on Craigslist, listing it for auction through Liquidation.com, creating listings on eBay, or hiring an auctioneer to auction off your slow selling merchandise. Many retailers are sitting on unsold merchandise, running an auction in your store can be a great way to quickly turn obsolete inventory into cash, which you can then use to pay off some of your debt.

You can also hire attorneys that specialize in negotiating business debt, although this route can be considerably expensive, so you might decide to hire an attorney, such as a bankruptcy lawyer, only when your store is in a truly dire financial situation.

You might also want to check with the SBA, the Small Business Administration, to see what loan or grant programs are available for struggling businesses.