How to rectify the biggest drains on company finances

Wednesday 12th January 2022

It is often the case that the biggest worry on a business owner’s mind is cash flow — more specifically, managing budgets in order to ensure there is enough money in the bank to support the day-to-day running, while facilitating future growth.

But there are small and simple changes to be made to maximise profitability and productivity – without ever having to compromise on quality.

Here, we highlight some of the key areas where business leaders are known to spend money unnecessarily, and offer our suggestions for tightening the purse strings a little…

While investing in digital tools are a great way to maintain clear channels of communication — ensuring your clients and colleagues continue to see you as a reliable and trusted voice — focussing too much on the latest systems can be an unnecessary expenditure. Especially considering ‘newest’ doesn’t always mean the most effective.

Instead, try to focus the attention on putting processes in place for securing your infrastructure and operations, and saving important files and information in a central database — this way, if your technology lets you down, all is not lost!

2. Don't double up

Hosting weekly huddles for the team to share what they’ll be working on that week can eliminate the risk of colleagues doubling up on work, and free up some time to work on another project.

Just because a process has been around for years, doesn’t always mean it’s right! Try to encourage your workforce to think differently and challenge the norm, in order to find faster, more efficient solutions to a problem. Encouraging your colleagues to branch out in their roles and responsibilities could also eradicate the need to outsource further resources.

3. Going paper-free

Lowering the usage of physical products within the company can drastically minimise costs, plus reduce your carbon footprint — win-win! Documents such as contracts, letters and forms can all be transferred over and become digitalised. These can then be saved on a central database where colleagues can access them securely, where necessary.

4. Choose substance over style

While having a freshly furnished office can be a great tool when encouraging productivity and pride within your team, putting too much time and energy into the surroundings – and not enough into the business framework – can be detrimental to the success of the company.

In the beginning, stay focussed on building a strong reputation within the marketplace, establishing a strong client base and developing a thriving company culture, and you should soon start to make some headway...

5. Take your time

It’s natural to want your business to succeed, and be impatient about seeing discernible results, but the road to organisational growth is a long - and unpredictable – journey. Rushing to take the next step can have the opposite effect and actually postpone the progress.

Instead, try to focus your energy on planning and preparing next steps, strengthening customer relationships, and cultivating your team’s development. The rest will follow.