Is your bottom line not as big as you thought it would be at this point? It could be that you are making one of these 4 very common, often very costly, mistakes that can unnecessarily leech money from your business and make it fast harder for you to turn a profit.
By Team Savant
Image: Mike Cho
Overbuilding the Products You Sell
A very costly mistake, especially for new companies, can be overbuilding your products before you offer them up for sale.
Sure, you might want your products to be the best they can be, but if you overbuild before launch, you might end up adding a lot of features that no one actually wants, which means you simply cannot sell as many products as you should be able to.
Launch the minimal value product you can and when sales and feedback starts coming in, you can then think about investing in an even better product for your customers, but not before.
Not Maintaining Equipment
A lot of small businesses think they can save some of their budgets by simply not paying for official maintenance of their machinery and equipment, but this just means that a time will come when they need a professional hydraulic repair service or their pressing machine needs to be fixed, snd when this happens, the company will likely experience downtime that will cost them a lot of money.
It’s far better to have machinery regularly serviced so that it is less likely to breakdown, and so that it works as efficiently as possible than it is to neglect it and regret it later.
Hiring the Wrong People
The process of hiring an employee alone can run into the thousands, and that’s before you think about their salary and any benefits you need to pay to keep them working for you. So, without a doubt, one of the most costly mistakes your business can ever make is hiring the wrong people.
If you hire someone who does not have enough experience or who does not plan to stick around for long, for example, this could dramatically impact the success and productivity of your company, as well as costing you a lot of money. That’s why it is always worth paying a little more for HR service upfront; they will help you find the right employees first time around.
Wasting Money On Tech
Okay, so most businesses today would not be able t run without various tech hardware and software packages. That being said, many businesses waste money by spending more than they need to on tech. For example, there is often no need to pay for a Microsoft Word package when Google Docs is freely available. Before you invest in a tech solution, search for free and cheaper alternatives because, chances are, you will find one that is just as good.
If you are currently making one or more of these costly mistakes with your business, then it is time to change that by modifying your business practices right now. Do the smart thing and boost your bottom line!