I just finished reading Profit First which is a must read for business owners whether you’re new to entrepreneurship or have been going steady for some time.
Profit First teaches you how to turn your business from a cash eating monster to a money-making machine. This involves implementing a strategy that helps you lower expenses, pay off debt and start to pay yourself profit first.
One of the main takeaways that really stood out to me in the book is how much money business owners waste on expenses. We often like to tell ourselves that we need to invest a ton of money into our business in order to be successful.
This isn’t always the case and can lead to purchasing unnecessary things and overpaying for the expenses that are needed. If you’re worried you could be spending too much money on business expenses, here are 4 costs you may be overpaying for.
1. Untargeted Advertising
Are you spending a ton of money marketing your business? Between Google Adwords, Facebook ads and other forms of advertising, you could be spending a killing just to market your business to others and sell products and services.
Instead of paying so much for advertising, look into free methods to market your business. Use all free aspects of social media to promote yourself and share events.
You can also post guest content on other sites to advertise or build an email list of loyal followers. Realize that some paid advertising methods also offer free trials so you can try out services like Google Adwords, for example, to see how you like it.
2. Video Conferencing
If you host a lot of remote meetings with your business, you may have thought about purchasing a professional video conferencing program. Please save you money.
There are plenty of ways to set up video conferences for free. For example, you can use Skype, Zoom or Uber Conference at no cost to start.
Some programs may have limits on how long your free meetings can be and this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If you put a strict deadline on your video meeting, that can help ensure you get to the point quickly and have a productive call.
3. Payment Processing
Nothing can match the awesome feeling of getting a new payment notification. As entrepreneurs, we work hard for the payments we receive.
One thing that can eat into your profits is payment processing services. In order to accept credit and debit card payments, you often need to pay for payment processing software which comes with a fee.
Usually, the fee seems low on the surface, but it can add up as you receive larger and more frequent payments. It’s best to compare pricing for payment processing services to find the most cost-effective solution so you’re not overpaying for this expense (learn more about Due’s payment processing solutions here).
You also want to make sure there are no hidden fees and you have all the features you need to accept payments quickly and painlessly for your business.
Summary
It’s easy to get so caught up in the idea of investing in your business that you start to overpay for services and expenses you think you need. It’s best to audit your business expenses every few weeks and shop around to see if you can find more affordable alternatives to the expenses you need to keep around.
