Episode 126 – The Hidden Expenses That Haunt Your Business

Show Notes

The idea for this podcast came up just recently – because of a disastrous detail.

One of my clients has me managing their Google Ads account, which I’ve been doing for about 6 months. When I first did the analysis on their ads and budget I noticed there were SEVERAL other account managers.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

It turns out that they had left admin access turned on for a few previous ads managers.

AND one of them had left THEIR CREDIT CARD attached to the account.

So 2 Hidden Expenses there:

1. The company was paying for someone else’s ads about $500 a month for 10 months.
2. The company that didn’t notice they were getting FREE ADS has to pony up a big lump sum

Here are just a few expenses that I’ve personally missed over the years that have cost me serious money – and a checklist of the most common things for YOU to check to makes sure you’re not wasting your profits on nickles, dimes, and dollars:

• Domains – remember that www.thisisanamazingidea.com url/domain name you bought? No? Well, it could be costing you $30-$300 per year depending. If you started a store or have a GoDaddy or Bluehost account start clicking and checking.

• Monthly software charges – this e-store fee, that cool plugin, a CRM software you’ve never really used. Did you try out a DecoNetwork store? How about a “free trial” you never canceled?

• Overpaying for services – do you have an internet or mobile plan that’s above your company’s needs?

• Are you overpaying for something you can easily do yourself? You might be paying a service company for your printer/copier. Are you using enough to warrant a service? Would investing in your own printer/toner be better over time? Do you pay an office site cleaning crew like everyone else in your office complex? Do you need them?

• Poor inventory management – how often are you paying next day or second day air to ship paper, ink, apparel? Can this be managed better with better inventory tracking

• Not buying in bulk or TOO much in bulk should be managing a good inventory rollover. There are a lot of books and theories about what is good. but if you can buy in bulk and not have excess inventory, do it. e.g. liters of ink vs small bottles.

• Switch Providers for phones/internet/insurance – The best deals on these local services are often to those who switch. Contract up on the internet? Call the competition

• Stop tripping on pennies – Remember with all of this, it’s about finding hidden expenses, not wasting time on pennies. A cone of threat is like 6-8 dollars, if you save 50 cents… you are saving less than a penny per logo. Unless you are doing a million of those, they won’t add up. Instead, spend your time on managing thread inventory or investing in tools to prevent mistakes. Saving every inch of vinyl? don’t waste too much time on making it work, your time is most valuable.