Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
By Henry Brown
Any small business that hits the scene with a limited budget is up against a lot. It’s why proactive efforts are important. Failing to prepare for issues can spell disaster for your business, and even an eventual shut down after only a few months to a year. So before you get to that incredibly scary and incredibly demoralizing point, it’s worth it to go over your budget and check you’ve properly provided for these three big costs. The more you know now, the easier the damage control later on, if necessary.
Not differentiating between one-time and ongoing costs
A one-time cost can quickly eat up the budget, if you fail to account for either the monthly or annual costs your business is subject to. Items on your invoice such as commercial rent and insurance premiums need to be subtracted from your budget immediately and in the long term, to ensure you’re never operating beyond your means.
Without this differentiation, your business could run into trouble simply due to office furniture expenses, or Friday pizza parties for the employees. Account for these after everything else has been ticked off.
A lack of adequate health and safety
Small business owners can get caught up in the excitement of opening that they fail to assess the workplace for issues relating to employee health and safety. While it’s likely you’ve removed hazards relating to customer safety, have you provided the same attention behind the scenes?
A health inspection can happen at any time, with around one- to two-weeks notice. For a business just getting up and running, that’s a stressful notice window. If it’s then found that your workplace doesn’t meet legal standards for health and safety, you could be subject to massive fines, especially if there’s no budget available to rectify the issue.
From trip hazards to poor warning signage, you could fail on various counts. So, get in touch with companies like EverLine Coatings and Services to get an idea of safety costs, both big and small. What you have to pay now is nothing compared to what you might be forced to pay later on.
Legal protection and insurance
Many businesses get this cost wrong from the get go. It’s necessary to have some kind of business insurance policy to cover you as you operate – most entrepreneurs understand this. However, very few new and upcoming businesses secure the policy they need.
As a result, they pay out an average of five to ten times more than they would need to with the correct legal protections in place. In particular, companies tend to pay out for data breaches and a lack of adequate cyber protection. Without digital or cyber insurance in place, there’s no safety net there to catch a business in case of a malicious attack or massive scale leak that’s targeted more than one company.
In the world of small business, these three big costs often outweigh any other. Safeguard against them early on.
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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.
