Fix These Six Things That Are Costing Your Business Money

Posted on Aug 18 2017 - 3:55pm by Editorial Staff

Money is so important in any business. It is what makes everything happen (or not, if there is a distinct lack of cash flow). It can help you to reinvest in your business, invest in other things, as well as keeping you on track to make payments and keep out of debt. So as a result, it is very important to keep track of your costs and be active in keeping costs low. There is no need to spend money unnecessarily. Of course, there are some things that you need to spend money on as has been mentioned, to reinvest and help the business grow. But there are several things that could be costing you a lot of money when they shouldn’t be. You don’t want to have any financial disasters! So if your business costs seem to be spiraling out of control, then it is time to make some changes. Could any of these things be costing your business money without you realizing it?

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Incorporate Your Business To Save

For one thing, you should be incorporating your business in an effort to be taken more seriously. However, there are plenty of other financial savvy reasons to incorporate your business. For starters, you get to protect all of your personal assets. So if things do head south, it is the company that is held liable, not your home or other personal assets. So in that way, it can save you a heck of a lot of money in the long term. Another reason that is of a financial benefit is that you get some more flexibility with taxes and benefits when it comes to your business. When you’re listed as a company, rather than just a sole-trader, then there are ways to be more flexible with your taxes. You also get the credit for running a business; you can actually call it a business when it has been incorporated. It might sound silly but could make the difference between people taking you seriously as a business person. If they believe what you do and take you seriously, they are more likely to be a customer.

Use Legal Contracts To Save

For all business transactions, whether it is with a freelancer or a contractor, using legal contracts is of paramount importance. Even if you have friends and family doing some work for you, you need to get it in writing. Things can and do go wrong in business. So in order to save yourself money in the long term, you need to be covering yourself with proper terms and contracts. Of course, there needs to be an element of trust with people that you do business with. But at the end of the day, your business is not the same as a personal relationship. You need to protect your business and your money. So if people are being coy about signing a contract, it is right to be suspicious of them. Going by the rule of ‘no contract, no work’ is a good way to go. You don’t want to be sued for something down the line!

There are documents that you can find online and then alter. But it is worth doing. It also serves as a good way to keep track of who has worked for you in the past. When you have all of their details, and they don’t pay their invoice, you can do something about it much more easily. If your business isn’t doing this yet, then you need to make sure you start to implement it from now on.

Use Quality Tradesman To Save

As well as the day to day running of a business, there are costs that can be incurred from the physical premises that your business is in. If you have an office or even just a warehouse for storage, you want to make sure that it is in tip top shape to protect you, any employees, and also your inventory if applicable. Leaky roofs, dodgy plumbing or not using fire doors can all be hazardous and can cost you a lot of money in the long run. Take setting up a new office, for example. If you use a plumber just because they are cheap, they could create some issues with the plumbing after a while. So using quality tradesman, for any aspects of your business, is a must. Somewhere like ABC Home & Commercial Services will use skilled plumbers that can detect any issues or problems early on. Which in the long term, will stop you from having to spend a lot of money later on. So keep on top of the premises that you own and it will save you money.

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Automate Everything To Save Money

For many tasks in business, it will not only save you time but also save you money, to have it automated. If you’re paying someone to do something that can actually be automated, then you need to look at it. If you don’t need to be paying wages to someone then it is going to save you a whole heap of cash. I mean, it is 2017. There are many things now that you don’t need someone to do for you. Take things like social media marketing or email marketing, for example. You can use scheduling tools for your social media posts, meaning you can plan several posts all at once. You can use things like Mailchimp for your email newsletter, to keep everything in one place, rather than having lots of different setups for your emails. You can schedule blog posts ahead of time too. So you don’t need someone there to press publish on the day that you want it to be posted. To go on from there, there are programs that you can use for your bookkeeping and accounts, that will work it all out for you once you have inputted the data. So it saves you a lot of time, and if you’re not hiring an accountant, a lot of money too. So look at your business today. What could you automate in the business that isn’t already? It can save you a significant amount.

Have An Up-To-Date Website In Order To Save

In a day and age where everything is at our fingertips (in the form of a smartphone), people rightly or wrongly lack a little patience. So if your website is slow to respond, especially on mobile, then it is time to make some changes. It can cost you a lot of potential customers if the page is loading and your potential customers don’t want to wait. So make sure your website is up to date. Studies have shown that around half of people expect websites to load within two seconds, with many clicking off a website if it hasn’t loaded within three seconds. That really isn’t any time at all! So you need to have a website that is in tip top shape. Check your host and see if you have the best offering. You should also check things like pop-ups or plugins and check that they aren’t slowing down the loading of your website.

Outsource To Save Money

If you have work that can be done quite easily by freelancers but aren’t outsourcing, then why not? Freelancers are a great way to get the job done but also save money. Think about it; when you employ someone, there are many things that come along with it. You have to give them regular work; you might have to cover things like insurance, sick pay or holiday leave. They are also contracted to you, so if they aren’t doing anything wrong, then you can’t just get rid of them. But when you hire freelancers to do some work, there are no other obligations to them. You hire them to do a few specific tasks, set out in a contract, of course. Then once that work is done, they are paid, and off they go. So when you don’t need someone to do that role full time, hiring freelancers and outsourcing is a great way to go. They are going to be experts in their field too, so it saves you time from having to train someone up. If you need to hire someone to write content for your blog or to manage and schedule your social media, then they will know what they are doing. They can get it done quickly, as their time will be dedicated to it and not other work, and then the work is done. You shouldn’t be wasting time and precious resources on work that others can do for you for less money. Focus on the tasks that will grow your business, and outsource, or delegate, all of the other roles.

So to conclude, when you look at your business, you shouldn’t just look at the cash flow. You need to look at the ways that you can cut costs and reduce expenses as well. So look at your business and decide where you can take some action. It will be really worth it!

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.