Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
Whether you’re already running your own business or planning to launch one soon, you need to know where your profit is coming from. But you also need to know where you’re missing out on potential profit so you can change tack.
Here are some of the snags people run into, along with tips on how to avoid them or get out of them if they’ve already caught you.
When you run your own business, you’re the boss, and it can be both a blessing and a curse with twin dangers. You either procrastinate to the extent of never getting anything done, or you can’t stop working and burn yourself out. Bad news from both sides.
If time keeps getting away from you, try these tactics:
It’s amazingly easy to end up with a multitude of business expenses you don’t need. They eat into your profits and can sap your motivation if you end up feeling like you’re working just to pay the business bills.
Little things like web hosting, for instance, can mount up. Make sure you’re not paying over the odds for your webspace or paying for add-ons you don’t use. Don’t be scared to switch your web host if you find a better deal.
Bank charges are another expense that can rack up. Keep an eye on what you’re paying each month, and investigate alternatives if you find your current bank is piling on the charges.
Appearances can be everything in business, improving your perceived status and standing in the community.
Trying to work from home, for instance, if you need to host meetings with clients may not give the most professional impression. Traditional office space can seriously eat into your profits, but an alternative solution is a flexible office where all expenses are built in. Short contracts also mean you’re not locked into a long lease, so your risk and commitment level is much lower.
Other easily accomplished things that can help lift your professionalism include:
You’re more likely to achieve better prices (and make bigger profits) when your business appearance is professional and polished.
If you’re selling physical items, stock control is a major factor in profit levels. You need to know how much stock you hold, when to reorder, and where things are so you don’t waste time hunting items down.
Self-storage units are popular sites for online retailers or resellers, with many facilities welcoming business users. You can install freestanding shelving or cabinets and hanging rails, and including a table or desk also means you can pack up your sold items without carrying them somewhere else. Being able to quickly upgrade your room size or rent an additional room means you can take advantage of seasonal bargains and know you’ve got storage space for them.
Having found your ideal space for stock storage, make sure you organise items so you can quickly locate them.
Accounting is a big part of running a profitable business. You can open a subscription to an online accounting service that will help you keep track of expenses and invoices, or set up your own spreadsheet if you’re good at that sort of thing.
HMRC offers lots of help to business owners, including webinars just lately. If you’re not sure what you can claim for business expenses, including part of your household running costs if you work from home, it’s worth checking up. By not claiming your expenses, you’re probably paying too much in tax and it’s eating into your profits.
A bookkeeper or accountant would also be a worthwhile expense, saving money in the long term, if you struggle with daily upkeep of your books.
Just being aware of some of those potential problems and the ways to avoid them can give food for thought in the way you run your business. Hopefully, changing up one or two things can see you on the way to greater profitability.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
Contact: [email protected]
