5 Costs Of Running A Business You Can’t Ignore

When it comes to business, many owners think it’s pretty straightforward. Still, there are so many aspects to running a business that there might be costs that you tend to overlook or forget about. So whether you are doing a full review of costs or are looking at areas where you could be making some savings, here are five you should be paying more attention to.

Employee Benefits

Now, we’re not saying that you should cut all employee benefits, and that’s it. There are major advantages of having employee benefits in place – but there’s no denying that they can be costly. If you don’t already have an idea of the total cost for your business, make sure to review these to have a final number on paper.

If you’re looking to reduce costs, it may help to identify which benefits are not being used by employees or whether there are more cost-effective ways of delivering these benefits so your employees and your wallet can be happy.

Utilities

Of course, most of us have enough bills to be very aware of how much gas, electricity and water can cost. They do make our list as they tend to be one of the first areas business owners look into when they want to make savings – and not without reason.

There are many factors that can influence that final number at the bottom of your bill. This can go from the energy efficiency of your equipment and facilities (which includes everything from light fixtures to the office coffee machine or heavy machinery if applicable to you) to how much you are paying for wastewater discharge.

Leading water retailer Castle Water recommends that businesses carry out full audits of their water and wastewater usage so that areas of improvement can easily be identified. Now that the water market is open, you can switch to Castle Water. Learn more about the process on their website.

Taxes

Taxes as a cost that can’t be ignored might be stating the obvious. Still, just like other areas of business, there is more to do than you may think when it comes to optimising your taxes.

We’re not suggesting anything close to tax avoidance! It takes one conversation with tax experts to realise that most businesses could benefit from specialist advice so that dealing with taxes doesn’t become a hassle. You may also be surprised to know that some businesses end up finding out that they’re not filing taxes properly or end up paying more than they should, so if you feel like this may be your case, it’s always worth having a chat with specialist accountants.

Associations and Conferences

Being part of a business association or attending a trade conference are great ways to connect with other businesses in your industry, do a bit of networking or scope out for potential customers. They do come at a cost, though, so you may want to consider what has been particularly beneficial for your business, weighing the pros and cons in case you need to reduce your costs. Some will find making connections with similar businesses in the industry will be more beneficial to learn about running the business. In contrast, others will want to focus on prospecting potential customers to grow and increase sales.

Shrinkage

The term shrinkage refers to the loss of goods which can happen through theft, clerical error, or unexpected circumstances like damage through transit or manufacturing default. Shrinkage costs can be minimal compared to the costs of running a business. Still, they can be hard to predict or estimate, and if they add up to other ‘hidden costs’, they can end up being costly to your business.

It can be hard to avoid shrinkage altogether but having solid processes in place to avoid these can help immensely, so if this is not on your list already, make sure to add it on.

We hope you’ve found this post useful. You can find more business advice here.