Although equipment is necessary within any business, sometimes businesses tend to upgrade to the latest on the market before their current equipment has become outdated. Clue yourself up on how long your equipment should last after buying it. Computers for example, should last at least five years. Software updates may become available and often, your current computers will be able to handle the update for plenty of time to come. Another way of preserving your equipment is to maintain it properly. Get regular checks on everything to see if any minor repairs need doing before it turns into something that’s going to cost a lot of money. Make sure all equipment is turned off properly, kept clean and most importantly, make sure that the people using it are trained to use it correctly. Making sure that your suppliers aren’t ripping you off is also another way of preventing your business from losing profits. Your stationery supplier might be charging you too much, so either negotiate with them or find another company.

Staff

Even though staff may be critical to your business being up and running, think about whether the workload is being delegated fairly. You might feel like you need to employ another member of staff, but before doing so see if you can give your current members of staff more hours and a bigger workload (without being unfair, of course). If you feel like you’re spending too much on wages, rather than letting go of someone consider removing the opportunity for overtime. Unfortunately, people take advantage of overtime hours sometimes and that could be a reason for you losing out on money. If necessary, lower your expectations on what your staff should be achieving each day. Of course, if the workload decreases at any point and you do have to let go of someone, make sure you’re making them redundant with the correct steps.

Money

It’s likely that you have made a business transaction with someone and they haven’t paid up. This means that you will have to chase the money up and you will be torn away from other important tasks within your business. Of course, the preferable option is that no client will do that to you but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Hiring someone that can do this for you will take the load off your back and enable you to rest assured that your business is getting the money it’s owed. Heading to a credit control recruiter will be able to find you the perfect person for the job.Making sure that you’re charging the correct amount for your services is also important to making sure that you don’t lose out on any profits. Even though you want your prices to appeal to your customers, you also need to make money to stay up and running. Plus, people will pay the prices, even if there are a few grumbles because they still want the service that you’re offering.

Luxuries

Even though luxuries within a business sounds like a strange thing to say, you’ve probably got quite a few without even realising it. Things like staff parties and christmas dos can take a large chunk out of profits. Explain to your staff that you’re unable to fund these parties anymore, for the benefit of the business. It doesn’t mean that you can’t all chip in and have the parties anymore though! Other things like vending machines, coffee machines, ordering in cakes for the office, your radio license all add up too. Cut back or even stop lunch runs, and ask your employees to bring in their own food. See if you can reduce any expenses in the luxuries that you have for your workplace so that it can go straight into profit instead.

If you follow the suggestions above, you should begin to see a rise in your profits within your business. Of course, if you’re not seeing any improvements it might be time to take some more drastic measures so that your company doesn’t fall under. Looking after your business is your main priority, so make sure your profits don’t fall!