The early stages of any new business is a notoriously risky period. So being aware of the potential pitfalls when starting a fledgling venture is crucial. Read on to hear about three hidden business costs to consider:
Make sure you get your utility costs right
BusinessEnergy revealed the average cost of a micro business’ yearly electricity bill: using around 7,500 kWh, the bill comes to an average £1,062. These figures rise to 15,000 kWh and a £2,038 bill for a small business, 25,000 kWh and a £3,146 bill for a medium-sized business and 60,000 kWh and a £7,346 bill for an industrial business.
Consider also the average cost of commercial gas for businesses:
- Small business: 10,000 kWh per year (£430)
- Medium business: 25,000 kWh per year (£856)
- Large business: 45,000 kWh per year (£1,424)
It’s in your best interests to take some time to look at various business energy supplier tariffs. As an example, Flogas offer a competitively priced and reliable business gas supply and can help them save up to 45 per cent on their gas spending alone.
Keep your staff happy
A new business means a new team for you, but also for each other. To ensure they remain happy and see your company as a great place to work, it is important that you show employees appreciation when they are working hard and delivering the results that you are striving for — even if this does mean added costs.
Make sure to budget for any prizes for employee of the month, or social events and meals. However, they are also very likely to boost morale and have employees appreciating their work and doing their jobs with a positive attitude.
As part of continuous improvement, your staff will need the chance to go on training days too.
Be on top of upgrades
No matter the industry, competition will be high for your business. One way to ensure you survive is by ensuring your team has the most up-to-date technology available to them to deliver the best results possible.
Perhaps your employees would be more efficient if they can complete tasks on the move? If so, consider investing in some tablet computers. Worried about cybercrime when you hear of stats such as that there were around 3.6 million cases of fraud and 2 million computer misuse offences recorded by the Crime Survey for England and Wales in its latest annual report? Adding robust security programs to all of your computer systems should give you peace of mind.
Of course, these implementations mean additional costs to your company, but they will be beneficial in the long run.
