You’ll likely agree with me that little expense leaks spring up all the time especially as a savvy business owner who wants to stay updated while making good returns on business investments. Many are the result of seemingly minor choices we make in our day-to-day transactions, but they can add up to a lot of lost cash, yes, lost and maybe irrecoverable cash!
Most business owners wonder how their cash disappears or how they spend their money as they are usually unable to give a proper account of their expenses because of impulse buying or overshooting their business or personal budget (if they ever have one). Consequently, they experience what we call Cash Leaks or ‘Money Drips’.
In simple terms, Cash Leaks is just any amount of money you have spent that you cannot account for what you spent it on at the end of the month.
It is expedient that you have a solid grip on your finances because failure to achieve this could be disastrous especially when you can’t locate the leak. Even if you think you have all your expenses under your control, it can’t hurt to do a quick check for some of these top cash drips and the result will shock you to the marrow.
Here’s a list of few of such expenses that every business owner need to consider wholistically.
- ONLINE CHARGES
Do you remember signing up for some of these online services like Mailchimp, Canva, Convert kit, Scribed, Planoly, GotoMeeting during a trial period or at one point when your needs were different. The time is NOW for you to take a closer look at those charges of yours, and examine them appropriately because I can assure you that you are probably getting charged some monthly fees you have been ignorant about.
- BANK CHARGES
This is another sore spot. Lots of banks charge you for SMS, cheque books, the printing of statements, ATM card maintenance, wire transfers, transaction processing fees, and so on. I’m sure your business was in a certain way at a certain level and size in terms of transactions when you first negotiated these fees with your bank. Now, has your business changed significantly or remained the same? Whatever the case may be, you need to look at your fee structures and be certain that you are getting the best deal suitable for your business.
- PHONE BILLS
Telecom technology changes so rapidly that you should be observing these expenses on a monthly basis especially the cost of data bundles and voice calls. You don’t want to be seen changing systems constantly, but you must have to be able to negotiate better packages with those service providers. In fact, I recommend that you include the regular reviews of all your smartphones and data packages which you utilize either weekly or monthly, asking yourself this question: Am I getting the best deal available?
If you find this useful, feel free to drop a comment or better still, I would love to hear from you, what are some of the cash leaks that you have found in your business or personal finance recently?
Written by: Adebola (Ajayi) Odeyemi, Lead Consultant at GEM3A SOLUTIONS.