Solar has an awkward cash cycle. You pay for panels, inverters and structure before the job is finished. The customer pays in stages. The subsidy goes to the customer, weeks or months later, not to you. Grow fast without a grip on this and every new job makes the cash problem bigger, not smaller.
Know your real profit
Take your last ten jobs. For each one, write the price, then subtract everything it actually cost: material, transport, labour, the survey visit, the extra trips to the electricity office, and any free fixes after handover. Divide by the system size in kW.
That number, profit per kW, is more useful than any total. It tells you which jobs are worth chasing and how low you can go before a sale loses money.
Set a price floor
When competition is fierce, the easy move is to beat every quote. Do that, and you win jobs that pay for nothing, including the quality this company stands for. Decide a minimum price per kW, and do not quote below it. When a customer pushes, change what is included, such as the structure height or the inverter model, not the rate for the same system.
A payment schedule on every quote
Print one standard payment schedule on every quotation, so it is never a negotiation at the door. A common shape is an advance at booking, a larger payment when material reaches the site, and the balance at installation. Whatever you choose, write it down, use it every time, and make sure material is not ordered before the booking advance arrives.
Explain the subsidy clearly: the customer pays you the full price, and the government credits the subsidy to their bank account after commissioning. Customers who misunderstand this are the ones who stop paying the balance.
Watch who owes you money
Every Monday, before the weekly meeting, make one list: every customer who owes a payment, how much, and how many days it is late. Anything over a week late gets a call that day. Money chased on day 8 comes in. Money chased on day 60 often does not.
Keep a reserve
Aim to keep one month of running costs in the bank that you do not touch: salaries, rent, fuel and loan payments. It lets you survive a slow month or a delayed payment without cutting corners on the next job.
Help customers pay
Many families want solar but not the whole amount at once. Speak with two banks about loans for rooftop solar customers, and learn their current rates, documents and approval times. Being able to say "here is how you can pay for this monthly" wins jobs that price alone would lose.