4 Unexpected Business Expenses And How To Expect Them

Running a business is always a full-time job however much time you actually spend at the office.

If you are not thinking about the direction that your business is heading in, you may be worrying about keeping your employees happy.

From the outside, it may seem deceptively simple: business is about numbers.

 

#1 Spend Less Than You Make

The money that you bring in must be greater than the money you necessarily expend.

However, all business owners will soon realize that there are many more numbers that need attention. There are whole spreadsheets of them.

Just in terms of what affects how much money you make, there are so many possible variables: the strength of weakness of the economy, the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, any discounts that you might offer and whether they warranted the money that you discounted.

Equally, the money you have to expend can come from many different places: perhaps a loyal employee asks for a raise or the rent on your property is increased or your taxes could go up.

If you are concerned about what you can expect running a small business, here a few expenses that you may have to brook:

 

#2 Hackers

A problem that is unique to the modern age that every small business owner should be aware of is the threat presented by hackers.

Whatever their motives may be in a particular moment, it is imperative that you invest in cyber security software. Not only could the disabling of your computer system prevent you from trading for a few days or weeks, but potentially sensitive information may be compromised.

It is in your own interest and in the interest of your employees to protect what you have.

It is not just technology that can fail, however.

 

#3 Building Issues

The risk of something going wrong with some aspect of your building is one that you always be mindful of; it could be a power cut, which is irritating but which will usually sort itself out soon or later, or something as simple as a blown fuse.

A particularly dangerous problem that you may face is faulty plumbing. This can be a serious health risk to you and your employees, especially if the problem involves sewage or other dangerous effluent.

It can completely close down your office, and if the building suffers water damage, it can cost immense amounts of money. Luckily, it can be remedied by an action as simple as calling a commercial plumber.

It may seem as if a potential expense is necessitating the inclusion of an actual expense, but the numbers are clear in this case.

Employing someone to check out your building to make sure nothing will go wrong in the future is often much cheaper than having to call them when something does go wrong.

 

#4 Employee Cost

Finally: it is an old joke that when you fire someone, on their way out, they stop by the office supply cupboard and help themselves to something.

One hopes that that is just a playful exaggeration but the expenses that resources represent are rather more serious.

You should carefully track how much you are spending and correct accordingly in subsequent quarters. Waste is exactly that: wasteful.

 

What Kind of Unexpected Expenses are You Dealing With?

When it comes done to it there are hidden expenses everywhere.  I know one for me personally is when a job doesn’t get done exactly as planned and I will have to spend extra on material and man hours to get something done that was not expected.

So what kind of unexpected business expenses are you dealing with that you didn’t plan on having?  I would love to hear your thoughts and stories on this below.

Cheer!