The life of a solo entrepreneur sounds appealing: You get to do things your way and set your own schedule. You know your success or failure is fully due to your efforts. But there are downsides, too, such as a lack of institutional support — and, of course, finding your own health insurance.

One of the challenges many would-be solopreneurs overlook is cash flow. When you — the owner of a single-person business — stop working, your cash flow is often reduced to zero. But you also don’t want to feel like you can’t take a day off: What’s the point of the freedom to set your own schedule if you can’t actually enjoy it?

Finding ways to manage cash flow should be a top priority for solo businesspeople. Fortunately, there are a few ways to do this:

1. Pinpoint the Source

Cash flow problems come in many flavors. Take a look at your books: Are you simply not making enough sales? Try investing in a lead-tracking tool. If you have enough accounts, is your typical transaction smaller than you thought it would be? Upselling existing customers may be your best bet.

For a surprising number of small businesses, though, the issue is that their accounts simply aren’t paying on time. Intuit data published earlier this year showed that a third of U.S. small-business owners have more than $20,000 in outstanding receivables. Further, 31% of small-business owners across the U.S., U.K., Australia, India and Canada wait a month or more to get paid by their customers. Although relationship-building can help, a different payment model may be in order.

2. Rethink Your Payment Model

If the same accounts are late to pay each month, consider switching to a subscription model. In an Insights by Stanford Business interview last year, Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo argued that every business will soon be subscription-based, a model that’s grown by 100% per year in recent years.

Why are subscriptions so popular these days? DealMachine CEO David Lecko said in Born2Invest that the reason is twofold: The subscription model decreases the consumer’s barrier to entry by reducing his upfront cost, and it gives the provider a more predictable revenue stream. In effect, subscription companies never start a month with no cash flow.

3. Shorten Your Invoicing Cycle

What if you’ve got a subscription product but are still struggling to collect payments? Try sending invoices more often. In his payments guide for freelancers, Brennan Dunn suggested that solopreneurs invoice their clients once a week or more. Although that might sound like overkill, especially if you’re used to sending monthly invoices, it’s a good way to put pressure on late payers.

Remember, most companies work on Net 30 terms. If you invoice once a month, you have to wait up to 60 days before you can consider an invoice outstanding. Not only do you get paid every 37 days (or fewer) when you switch to weekly invoicing, but your invoices will also pile up much faster. Multiple outstanding invoices get attention from corporate accountants in a way that a single delinquent invoice simply doesn’t.

4. Get a Carrot and a Stick

Speaking of getting accountants’ attention, penalties and incentives are great ways to promote regular payments. Accountants might ignore a begging email, but they won’t when money is on the line. Start with perks before sharpening your stick for persistent nonpayers.

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