10 Ways Companies Waste Money
After a new firm is launched, or even when an existing business has been in operation for a few years, there are several ways in which the company might squander money.
Sometimes it’s on little things, but other times a significant amount of money is being squandered when it could easily be prevented, and the owners should be aware that this is happening.
Small, unnecessary costs have the potential to tip a company from profit to loss, therefore they must be thoroughly scrutinized and controlled on a continuous basis.
10 Ways in Which Businesses Waste Their Money
It is estimated that companies squander money in a variety of ways numbering in the millions, however I have selected the ten most prevalent ways that businesses spend their money, which I feel are as follows:
1. Outsourcing an excessive number of tasks
When it comes to running a business, there are far too many duties to accomplish that people feel should be outsourced since they are too glorified to be handled by the company itself.
It is true that a lot of jobs must be outsourced to a certain extent, either because of their complexity or the general nature of the work themselves. Many firms, on the other hand, may get too enthusiastic about the concept, believing that outsourcing as many tasks as possible would make their lives much simpler.
Business waste is exemplified in this instance, which is classic. Certainly, outsourcing makes things much simpler, but it wastes a lot of money when the tasks that are being outsourced can be handled quite quickly by the company that is outsourcing.
2. Making use of more advanced technology than is required
One of the most typical ways that organizations lose money is when they decide to get all of the newest, most cutting-edge technologies.
It is very strong, extremely rapid, and capable of doing astonishing feats that no other system can match. Which is fantastic, but it isn’t much use if you aren’t going to be using all of this more speed and all of these terrific things in the first place.
Keep your shopping list focused on what you’ll truly need.
You’ll most likely discover that it lasts far longer for your company requirements than technology would ordinarily last for the common individual. If your company expands and you feel that you need an update, then go ahead and do it. At the very least, you’ll know it’s going to be worth it.
In contrast, if you’re just starting out as a firm and you spend money on technology that’s much more advanced than you really need, you’ll likely find yourself with enormous holes in your budget and a lack of funds in other parts of the company.
3. Marketing in the wrong way
Mastering the art of marketing is a very tough skill to achieve. The fact that it is a high-risk component of company that not everyone is aware of at first may surprise you. For those who are new to marketing, the most common conclusion is that more money spent equals more leads, more sales, and more profit. This is not always true.
This is obviously not the case, since the manner in which you promote your company is entirely dependent on the things you are selling, your target market, and the amount of money you have to spend on marketing.
Certain methods of marketing will be more successful for one company than they will be for another one. Your target market may be represented much more often on one sort of media than on another.
So, rather than opting for the most costly alternative, you should first determine which would be the most effective. After you’ve worked out what you want to do, you may select how much money you want to put into it.
4. Inadequate tracking of expenditures
Actually, one of the most prevalent ways that organizations squander money is via inefficient expenditure monitoring systems. Money is spent, yet it remains unreported, resulting in an out of sync financial flow for your business. Budgets may be depleted before individuals are aware of it, and overspending can result as well.
I don’t think I have to tell you that this is not a good situation.
All expenditures, no matter how tiny, may mount up, which is why they must all be documented, regardless of how small, in order to guarantee that all calculations are right and that everyone is aware of how much money they have left to spend, how it will influence the firm, and so on.
In related news, here are 5 suggestions for taking your startup to the next level.
5. There is more staff than is required.
Some firms employ managers for each and every department inside the company. This individual oversees this team, and this individual manages that individual, and then that individual reports to this individual… Are you perplexed at this point?
Maintain as much simplicity as feasible. If someone is only required to execute a tiny portion of what they are capable of, it is likely that various tasks will be consolidated into a single duty, which will decrease expenses while also providing an employee with the opportunity to work to their maximum potential.
6. Making Bad Decisions
Generally speaking, making poor judgments might be one of the most prevalent ways for organizations to lose money. It doesn’t take much for someone to find themselves in a difficult situation, and once they do, it can be extremely simple to make a mistake that results in the company losing a significant amount of money.
As a result, it is critical to consider the risks associated with each potential option and to do thorough study before making a final decision. A large number of organizations will fail to fully consider these issues and will wind up losing a significant amount of money as a result.
7. Expensive Equipment
The purchase of expensive equipment while establishing a new firm, in a manner similar to having expensive technology, is another possible waste of money.
In the beginning stages of a firm, you should only acquire what you really need. Any purchases made on the spur of the moment that aren’t absolutely necessary can quickly deplete your profit margins.
8. Purchasing items that must be constructed in a natural way
Certain aspects of a firm must be established organically, rather than via acquisition, and this cannot always be avoided.
This is something I discovered when I started my first ever blog, for which I ended up purchasing Facebook likes in order to try and get things started. Please have a look at what I said about this critical blogging blunder.
Consequently, in addition to purchasing likes for a Facebook page, there are several other items that companies would acquire that merely need natural growth to be achieved.
A lot of businesses make the mistake of purchasing an existing email list of confirmed purchasers, which is a horrible idea in every way. That’s a typical reason why so many emails are flagged as spam: they include attachments.
Building things organically takes longer, but it provides a higher level of quality and confidence in what you’re doing, which is essential for operating a successful company.
9. Making a purchase before it is necessary
Premature purchase occurs when a company starts acquiring the equipment and supplies it needs for expansion before it is truly ready to do so. It wouldn’t be so awful if the increase they were anticipating materialized rather quickly after that, though.
Most of the time, however, the firm will make the purchases and then discover that its cash flow is unable to keep up with the costs, resulting in the business going out of business.
A successful firm should continue to grow and expand, purchasing new equipment and acquiring more space as and when the need arises.
Loans are number ten.
Many companies are unable to function without the assistance of a financing, which is reasonable. However, it has become commonplace for companies to believe that they need a loan just to get up and running and to be successful, although in many situations this is not the case.
If you are able to avoid borrowing money, even if it means starting off with a lesser budget than anticipated, then do so.
Loans have a high rate of interest, and they also include the risk that, if anything goes wrong, you’ll be out of luck. “Only moron’s start a company on a loan,” as Mark Cuban famously said once.
To Grow Your Business, Outsource 101 Tasks to Virtual Staff!
Amongst the most common misunderstandings about working with virtual employees is that one person can handle all of your tasks. This is what I refer to as the ‘Super VA Myth,’ and I’ve debunked it many times! It just cannot be done. In both the real and virtual worlds, no.
You must employ for the position, not the task, if you want to successfully deploy virtual assistants to expand your organization. This is something I always say.
That necessitates the formation of a group. As a company owner, you need a team that will work together to reach your goals.
With this in mind, I’ve compiled a list of duties that you may delegate to virtual employees to help you expand your company more efficiently. As you can see, I’ve divided it into the following categories:
Virtual Assistant in Charge of Everything (GVA)
Content Writer / Audio/Video Editor
Search engine optimization (SEO) and web marketing (web marketing) are two terms used frequently
Web Designer/Developer (Graphic / Web)
It’s critical to understand and accept that no one individual can fulfill all of these responsibilities. It’s all about putting your resources to work to accomplish the results you desire from your team building and outsourcing efforts.
So, let’s start with the one person I believe every single entrepreneur on the planet should have — a General VA (GVA). More than any other employee, this is the one person you can rely on to assist you on a daily basis.
They’re actual time savers, which means they’re also life savers for you as an entrepreneur! Get one immediately if you don’t already have one in your company.
GENERAL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (GVA) RESPONSIBILITIES:
In the world of entrepreneurship, email is one of the major time-wasters. I was locked in Outlook for up to 7 hours a day until I took the initiative to detach myself from my company and became a Virtual CEO (hear the whole story in episode 16 of my podcast). It had gone completely insane.
Working with a GVA to manage your email and other tasks, such as your calendar, is critical for modern-day entrepreneurs to become more productive.
1. Managing Spam/Filtering Emails
2. Contacts or CRM Database Creation/Updating
3. Responding to customer service emails/tickets/live chats
4. Greetings eCards, Event Invitations, and other similar items are sent out.
Management of the Calendar
6. Scheduling of Appointments
7. Planning and Organizing Travel
Services to Remind You
Organizing & Storing Files
We live in a society where we are constantly distracted by flashing lights, buttons, and other things during our working day. Being productive is crucial, but being organized is much more so. At the very least, Virtual assistants may assist you with systematizing and implementing procedures to help you organize your firm.
Organization using Dropbox / Google Drive
10. Use Word or Google Docs to enter information.
11. Spreadsheets: Making and Managing
12. Powerpoint / Keynote Presentation Preparation
Administrative & Blogging Tasks 13. PDF Conversion, Splitting, and Merging
I’ve previously discussed how virtual assistants (VAs) can administer your blog and assist with blog promotion – but there’s so much more your GVA can do for you in terms of other admin work and general project management and marketing assistance.
14. Video and Audio Files Transcription
15. Formatting and Layout of a Simple eBook
Preparing Minutes for Online Meetings
Creating a Report
Creating Forms
Creation of Document Templates
20. Research on the Internet
21. Lead generation / data mining & development
Management of Blog Posting 22.
Adding Tags and Images to Blog Posts 23. Moderating Blog Comments 24.
25. Duties of the Receptionist
Voicemail Checking is number 26 on the list of things to do.
27. Invoices to Customers
29. Personal Errands 28. Basic Bookkeeping (MYOB, XERO, and Quickbooks) (Purchasing Gifts Online, etc.)
Tasks for Project Management and Training
32. Preparation of Training Materials 31. Project Management Between You and Team Members
33. Virtual Staff Training (Don’t forget to visit my VSF Academy!)
34. Tracking of Deadlines and Deliverables
35. Managing Social Media
Creating Facebook Fan Pages / Groups is number 36 on the list (see example below)
facebook.com/chrisducker
Facebook Insights 37. Posting and Scheduling
38. Facebook Page Promotion
Using Facebook Insights to Compile and Interpret Data
41. Managing and Expanding Your Twitter Following 40. Creating a Twitter Account
42. Monitor Mentions and Hashtags and Schedule Tweets
43. Make a LinkedIn account / profile and manage it.
44. Use Pinterest to create pinning-worthy images
Pins for scheduling and tracking are number 45 on the list.
46. Open a YouTube account and manage it
47. Uploading Videos to YouTube 48. Moderating Comments on YouTube 49. Uploading Videos to Other Video Sharing Sites / Social Media
50. Respond to all messages and queries across all channels and profiles
51. Make presentations on Slideshare
Marketing through email
If you’re not a) expanding your email marketing list and b) connecting with it on a regular basis, all of your efforts will be for nothing. According to legend, you should earn an average of $1 a month for each name on your list. So, in my opinion, hiring a virtual assistant to help you expand and promote to your list is a no-brainer! This elevates the notion of selecting work to outsource to virtual labor to a new level — one that is monetary!
52. In Email Marketing Software, Create a New List
53. List Subscribers: Adding and Removing
55. Editing Follow-up Emails and Auto-responders 54. Creating and Scheduling Broadcast Emails to Promote Content 54.
Creating Email Newsletters is number 56 on the list of things to learn.
57. Proofreading and editing of emails
Best-selling banner for virtual freedom
AUDIO/VIDEO EDITOR
Virtual staffing in audio and video production is still very new — it has only just begun to gain traction. However, I can tell you that it has given me a lot of extra time (from personal experience). I was able to spend more time producing my content instead of worrying about the minutiae since I didn’t have to edit my own videos (even in a simple fashion!) My podcasting falls under the same category.
Plus, the final product is much more attractive (see below!).
Basic Audio File Editing (#58)
59. Getting Rid of Audio and Video Background Noise
60. Video Intros and Outros
61. Image Editing and Photoshop Basics (Not Graphic Design)
Installation of Powerpress (WP Plugin for Podcasting) 62.
63. iTunes Podcasting Setup
Insertion of a Podcast in a Blogpost (ninety-fourth)
CONTENT WRITER IS THE ROLE OF THIS PERSON.
I don’t recommend that you outsource your material on a regular basis. Especially if it is associated with your brand. However, if you’re doing a lot of internet marketing, particularly if you’re developing and promoting niche sites, or even larger, more authoritative sites, it pays to partner up with a decent selection of virtual writers to save time on writing all that written material.
65. Writing Content/Blog Posts 67. SEO Writing 68. Press Release Writing 66. Guest Blogging / Ghost Blogging
69. Writing a newsletter
70. Copywriting (Avoid Sales Copy)
Submission to a Directory
Spinning an Article 72.
73. ROLE OF THE ARTICLE MARKETING: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO) AND WEB MARKETING
Over the past several years, the field of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has radically transformed. What formerly worked is no longer effective. And what is effective now may not be effective tomorrow. Create quality material, on the other hand, and you’ll be off to a fast start. What happens after you’ve used social media to sell and promote your new blog article or podcast episode? Isn’t it true that the storm abates?
Your content will be positioned and advertised in a manner that will bring in continuous, long-term traffic if you have a good SEO / Web Marketing VA on board.
74. Evaluation of the Location
76. Competitor Analysis 75. Keyword Research for Blog Posts
Setup/Creation of a Landing Page (#77)
Submission by a Web Master 78.
Submissions of Sitemaps (No. 79)
80. A post / page’s on-page optimization (see below example)