There are about 28 million small businesses in the U.S., and while many of them are successful, a significant number of them struggle. This can be due to not having enough sales or struggling to get costs under control. But it also can be because of a shortage of cash on hand. Many businesses make sales and then take weeks or months to get paid for those sales. In the meantime, they still have to keep the lights on and pay their employees. It can be extremely difficult to manage a business when expenses are regular and income is irregular. The good news is that there are several options to keep your cash flow steady even when your income isn’t.

One of the best ways to get cash for your business is with a business line of credit. If you have good business credit, you can usually get a line with a single-digit interest rate. Business lines give you the flexibility you need to pull out the cash you need when you need it up to the limit of your credit line. Payment terms also are flexible, usually requiring you to pay a percentage of your outstanding balance each month.

Another option is to do invoice factoring or an invoice advance loan. In this scenario, you basically either sell your invoices at a discount or take on a loan using them as collateral. Companies that provide freight invoice factoring and other types of factoring usually take anywhere from 10 to 20% of the worth of your invoices. For example, if you have $100,000 worth of invoices, invoice funding companies would be willing to give you anywhere from $80,000-$90,000. The amount you get from business factoring companies can depend on the companies and a number of other factors.

You also may want to try offering discounts to your customers for faster payment. This can help get your invoices paid faster and keep cash coming in. For example, you might offer a 10% discount to companies that pay invoices within 30 days.

The method you use — line of credit, freight invoice factoring or payment discounts — will likely depend on your personal choice as well as which method makes the most sense for your situation. The good news is that you have plenty of options to get cash to keep your business going.