As a start-up business owner, it’s easy to take your eye off the ball when it comes to watching certain outgoings that you’re paying. You’re at the beginning of your business journey, so this is understandable — with experience will come an eye for the smaller details. However, especially if you are currently finding that your business is struggling financially, you should try to watch out for everything that could be costing your business money and try to uncover all the hidden costs.
Certain outgoings are just money down the plughole
An example of this the office space you are in. Think to yourself, do you really need the space? Is it fit for purpose? It may be aesthetically beautiful, and it may be the workspace you’ve always dreamed of working in whilst running a business, but are there too many empty square feet in your square footage. Could you possibly downsize on your office space? Sound advice when it comes to cutting down on office rental costs is to seek a temporary office space, like those offered by ShareDesk.
You should also think about everything that fills the office space, and ask yourself if it is really needed or if you’re using it in the way that yields the biggest return on investment. A common, yet somewhat forgotten, cost is those induced by printing. These can be mandated and focused on by conducting audits of your printing habits; reasons as to why you could need a Print Audit include allowing you to be fully aware of exactly how much you are spending on printing, copying and faxing, and to be able to act upon the findings and start controlling your print environment. You should also do an audit on other utensils in the workplace environment so you can decide what exactly you need, and what can be thrown out to make more space for things that you do, or even sold on in order to make some extra finance. Also, you may need to make the tough decision that is letting go of staff. If you want to make a position redundant because it suits your finances, don’t be afraid to do so just because it doesn’t suit the employee in question. However, remember that there are rules and regulations when it comes to handing out redundancies, such as you not being able to hire anybody in that role for at least a year.
Insurance costs may also be eating away at your finances behind-the-scenes, when they really don’t have to be. You should always be sure to search the market when it comes to the various covers of insurance that you seek every year in order to find the one for you. And once you find this one, you should never be afraid to negotiate with them, especially if you have a previously perfect record. Building a good rapport with an insurance company will, eventually, make them more inclined to offer you discounts, deals and savings. So start schmoozing as soon as possible!
Every small expense can add up to a big overspending problem, so it’s important to eradicate them as soon as you think they are becoming a problem.