Retail · Norwich · Year 3
"My accountant saved my business in one meeting"
Grace was profitable on paper and out of cash in reality. A single conversation about working capital changed how she runs the business.
Grace Whitfield, Whitfield Textiles · 15 July 2026 · 6 min read
Grace Whitfield had her best trading year and almost went under during it.
"Profitable and broke at the same time. I did not know that was possible. It is very possible."
The problem was working capital. She bought fabric ninety days before she sold a finished product, paid suppliers on thirty day terms, and sold to stockists who paid on sixty. Every additional order made the gap worse.
“Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact.”
Her accountant drew the cycle on the back of an envelope: money out on day one, money in on day one hundred and fifty. Growth widened the gap. Selling more was making it worse.
Three changes fixed it. Deposits of fifty percent on all wholesale orders. Supplier terms renegotiated to sixty days. And a rolling thirteen week cash forecast she updates every Monday morning, without fail.
"I do not look at profit weekly any more. I look at cash. Profit is an opinion, cash is a fact."