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5 hidden fees costing your small business money
Starting your own business can be exciting, but it often comes with a rocky road ahead. Those rocks will cut into your wallet through several expenses. Miscalculating the daily costs of running a company can hurt you in the long run.
Although some fees are hard to miss, others can slip through the cracks. Those can cost you a ton of cash over time. Here are five hidden fees that may have slipped past your radar.
1. Too many accounts for the same program
Let’s say you need to use an expensive program that charges per user. If you have five login accounts but only three people need them, you’re paying for two subscriptions you don’t use. Take stock of the resources you pay for and analyze how many workers use them.
Maybe you’re paying for a team to use expensive accounting software, for example. But if only one person uses it, you should demote your subscription to a single-person plan.
This is an easy mistake, especially when you have a high turnover. One employee may have set up a paid account before leaving the company. Since they’re gone, you should delete their accounts. There’s no sense in paying for an account that’s no longer in use.
2. Using an expensive subscription when a cheaper one will do
It’s tempting to pay for the highest tier. Maybe you found cutting-edge accounting software with a ton of features. Unless you’re using all of those features, you’re probably paying for more than you need.
You can save money by ensuring you aren’t automatically signing up for a top-of-the-line subscription when you’d be fine down a tier or two. Sometimes, the cheapest subscription will serve all your needs — and put extra money in your pocket.
3. Tricky phone bills
Unexpected fees can pop up, making your phone bill hard to comprehend. There are many parts to understand, from calling plans and services to taxes, surcharges and miscellaneous fees.
That’s why we recommend auditing your phone service. It’s common for business leaders to buy phone service and cross it off their mental list forever. That’s not a good idea, though — the market changes, prices go up and you can overpay if you don’t check in now and then.
Make sure your phone bill is competitive. Double-check your service package, note how well it caters to your needs and compare it to similar packages on the market. You may discover that another company offers better and more affordable phone service.
4. Paying for office space you don’t use
Office space always comes with operating expenses. You have to worry about property taxes, electricity, maintenance costs and more. You might even be paying for more space than you need.
Some companies spend thousands a month on space their team never uses. If you are paying for unused space, see if you can sublease the extra area to a subtenant or sell the building altogether if you own it.
5. Too many perks for employees
To attract top talent, you need to keep workers happy. You can do this by incentivizing them through excellent benefits and perks. While benefits like health insurance and 401(k) contributions are a given, you may be overpaying for perks.
A perk can be a gym membership, office lunch parties or standing desks. Some companies even have a jam room where employees can play music. While creating perks can be fun and rewarding, they can also be expensive. If they’re burning a hole in your pocket, try to find cheaper alternatives.
Bonus: You’re missing this secret ingredient
If you’re a business owner, you don’t need me to tell you running a business is challenging. Don’t let QuickBooks and spreadsheets slow you down, and stop paying for multiple systems that don’t give you the information you need when you need it. It’s time to upgrade to our sponsor, NetSuite by Oracle, the world’s No. 1 cloud business system.
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