It’s easy to overestimate the value of something in business simply because you’re following tradition. Alternatively, there could be times when you spend money in the right area, but simply adopt the wrong strategy. In either case, such mistakes can lead to a huge loss of unnecessary money. Below are just some of the biggest things that you could be wasting money on.
Office space
A lot of companies still believe that it’s important to have an office. As the pandemic showed, many jobs can be worked from home nowadays due to the collaborative powers of the internet. While office space can be necessary for some companies, for many it is an unnecessary luxury.
By doing away with an office, you could cut out costs such as office rent, energy bills, property insurance, maintenance and commute costs. On top of this, you and your employees can free up time spent commuting and possibly enjoy a better work/life balance. You can still maintain the image of working from an office by buying a virtual address from a site such as PhysicalAddress.com. Collaboration can meanwhile be done via the Cloud and via communication tools such as video call software.
Tech
Every business needs to invest in modern technology. Unfortunately, many companies invest in tech that is unnecessary such as buying single-use machinery instead of hiring it or subscribing to software that is barely ever used.
You can reduce wasted money spent on tech by taking the time to work out exactly which types of tech you need. IT consultancy firms can tell you exactly what types of hardware and software you need and can help you to work within a budget. You could find that there are free software solutions out there that you could be using or machines that you could be hiring instead of buying.
Employees
If your company is a certain size, you will likely need to hire help. The key is to hire the right help – sadly, many companies end up making the wrong hiring decisions.
Start by considering which roles need to be hired in-house and which roles can be outsourced. In many cases, outsourcing roles like accountancy and IT support is cheaper. When hiring employees, invest money into the recruitment process in order to look at as many candidates as possible. This will increase your chance of hiring the right person. A wrong hire can be costly.
Marketing
Every company needs to market themselves to attract customers. But just how should you be marketing yourself? Too many companies have no strategy and waste money on marketing tactics that are set up to fail.
Avoid handing out flyers willy nilly or boosting random social media posts. Instead, spend time carefully selecting your audience and work out the most effective way to connect with them. Use market research such as analytics, surveys, competitor research and reviews to work out exactly how to appeal to your customers and invest in building a solid brand.