Oil production in the U.S. has been growing at an overwhelming pace. In fact, the federal government just announced that the U.S. surpassed the 1970 record for oil and gas reserves, roughly doubling the amount of discovered petroleum in the ground in the past decade.

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas and New Year’s right around the corner, the holiday season is officially upon us.

Over the past few years, the oil and gas industry has grown rapidly, especially in the area of hydraulic fracturing. This growth has created many attractive business opportunities for oilfield trucking companies.

Getting customers to pay on time is one of the biggest challenges small business owners face. For every customer that pays on time, there is another who consistently pays their invoice late. Overtime, it can have a big impact on your business’ growth.

At some point, every business owner entertains the thought of expanding their business. However, it can be hard to know when to take on new orders, hire new employees, or if you should hold off and wait until your business is in a stronger position.

Two of the biggest challenges small businesses face, slow-paying customers and securing financing. As your business grows, so does your business’ accounts receivable and so does the amount of capital needed to carry you through until you receive payment.

When your customers take 30, 60, or even 75 days to pay your invoice, it places unnecessary stress on your business. A cash flow gap is created that strains your company’s finances, prevents you from competing for new projects, and makes it difficult for your business to meet payroll.

Just ten years ago, most small business owners were unfamiliar with the term “alternative lending”. As the banking industry began to rebuild from the financial crisis of 2008, traditional institutions became more and more guarded when it came to lending money.

High-profile cyber attacks over the last few years have raised awareness of the ever-increasing threat of cyber crime. During the 2013 holiday season, Target, the department store retailer, fell victim to a massive data breach.

Smoothing out and maintaining cash-flow is a huge, ongoing task as a small business owner. If your business is seasonal and/or service-oriented, managing cash-flow will be an even greater challenge.