(ThySistas.com) Managing a business is an art that combines financial and human skills. It is not easily done, and often you will find that some things could be improved with a little practice. Yet, as difficult as the business life can be, some business owners make it even worse by unknowingly wasting precious funds on a variety of matters and topics that have the ability, once combined together, to slow down business growth. Here are for your information the top 3 money wasters in a business. Make sure to take note of these and avoid making them at the workplace.
Interruptions Are A Productivity Killer
Interruptions are common in the office, whether you are working on your own or as part of a team. The famous ‘Have you got a minute?’ question that can fill hours of your time is unfortunately a habit in most offices. It is even encouraged, despite the disruption it causes in people’s work. There are naturally other forms of interruptions, such as the unexpected meeting that happens because suddenly someone wants to discuss something now and doesn’t care that you are already busy with your own tasks, the drink making process, during which one employee has to make a round of warm drinks for the entire team because it is implicitly expected, and finally the friendly chat that never ends.
Interruptions are estimated to cost up to 60% of your staff productivity, which in short means that 60% of the time employees are not doing what they are paid to do. The best way around this is to gradually develop a culture of work respect, by intentionally making the staff aware that their time is precious and should not be wasted. This also starts by showing the example and reducing unexpected interruptions from the management team to a minimum.
Paying More Than A Service Costs
It is not uncommon for businesses to rely on extra service providers, such as a cleaning agency, an IT maintenance team for storage and security, and also your electricity and water providers. As a business owner you need to regularly plan comparisons and checkups on your services and their costs, especially as contracts are coming to an end. Remember that service providers also belong to a competitive market, as much as you do, and that the rate you received as you signed for a contract a while ago might not be competitive any longer. It is important, especially with the fluctuating energy rates, to search for the lowest electricity rates at least once a year. Often, you will find that you don’t need to switch provider: You can simply talk to you current service provider and ask them to match the lowest rate on the market. To find out if you need to change providers, look into the best electricity companies in Dallas and see which one has the cheapest electricity plans that fit your needs.
Not Maximizing Ways Of Improving Your Cash Flow
While this is not technically a waste of funds, not creating opportunities of improving your cash flow is damaging in the long term. Often, this means for a business owner not being able to know whether an investment is possible, or deal with temporary financial troubles. Keeping ahead of your cash flow can be as simple as trusting an accountant to review and monitor your options. While this might sound like an unnecessary cost, you need to remember that understanding financial matters is a professional skill that needs to be learned. It is often a safer investment to trust an expert with it than to try to do it yourself! Consider ways to get free electricity on weekends to save money.
Understanding where to invest your money is paramount to improve your cash flow on a monthly basis. From a business perspective, this will be investing time/money into the activities that directly relate to an increased ROI. And from a general cash flow perspective, there are plenty of ways to invest your money for above-average returns. This article on the best ways to invest 10,000 covers some impressive little-known ideas.”
Staff Writer; Wanda Williams