11 things businesses should never skimp on

For many businesses, the main objective is to save money in order to make money. Cutting costs can be vital in order to survive in a competitive world.

There are always times when businesses find themselves financially struggling and having to rearrange their budgets. However, there are some things businesses should never skimp on. Here’s what you need to know.

Car insurance

It doesn’t matter what type of business you run, if vehicles are used, it’s vital that you have insurance. It’s even more important if you have the type of business that relies upon vehicles to operate. For example, a delivery business or construction company. Vehicle insurance makes sure you are covered in the event of an accident. You could employ the most cautious drivers in the world and it’s still possible to get into an accident. It’s also important that you don’t skimp and go for the bare minimum coverage. You could end up paying for stolen equipment, car damage and injury claims if you’re not careful about the kind of coverage you choose.

Vehicle repairs

If your business uses vehicles, it’s likely that those vehicles will easily wear and tear. They may need more maintenance than the average vehicle, so you need to be prepared for the cost of that. It’s important to maintain these vehicles for safety purposes. If you make a vehicle last out when it’s telling you there is something wrong, it could cause even more damage. Similarly, if you try to repair a vehicle with cheap materials and parts in order to save some money, you could be putting drivers at risk. Using cheap parts could damage the car further and void your warranty.

External face lifts

If clients or customers regularly visit your business premises, exterior upkeep is paramount. The exterior of your building is the first thing your clients will see. Therefore, if you’ve got a terrible paint job, it could be off-putting. You may not think twice about your building’s exterior but damage to the exterior can cause damage to the interior. For example, you may need a handy man to visit Roof Depot in order to fix a hole in your roof that could cause flooding. Simple things like blocked drains, gutters and damp can quickly cause problems inside too.

Business insurance

You may think that skipping on business insurance could save you a pretty penny. After all, what could go wrong? The bad news is, there is so much that can go wrong when your business isn’t protected. From fires in your premises that destroy essential machinery or devices to a cyber attack where your money is stolen from business accounts. In the event of horrific things like this happening, business insurance makes sure you can recover. With business insurance, you can rebuild from the ground up if you have to. Without business insurance, you may not have the funds to start all over again and you may never get the opportunity to run a business in the future.

Renters insurance

If you don’t own the premises your business works out of, it’s a good idea to get some form of renter’s insurance. The businesses possessions are completely separate from the property itself. So, if there were to be a fire or flood damage and your equipment was ruined, how do you make a claim in order to buy new equipment? If you don’t own the building but you operate inside it, everything that you own within the building should be insured in some way. If the damage to the building was the businesses fault, you also need to be covered in case the landlord tries to recover money owed to repair.

Safety wear

If you run a business that requires workers to wear safety gear, the gear should never be skimped on. When it comes to safety gear, you potentially have people’s lives in your hands. Trying to save money by purchasing cheap gear or patching up damaged gear could have extremely serious consequences. The people you work with deserve the best safety gear you’re able to afford and any gear that becomes damaged should be replaced immediately. It’s also important to keep abreast of innovative safety gear that could help your colleagues work more productively.

Office furniture

You may think that office furniture is a great way to save money when the business budget is tight. However, making that decision to skimp on furniture could come back to haunt you. When you think about it, your workers spend an average of eight hours using their office furniture. Buying an employee a cheap office chair could cause health issues. If your employees get back problems because your office chairs have been skimped on, your business won’t be as productive. Many employees could end up taking time off work and the ones who don’t may be trying to work in pain. That often means that work produced won’t be to the quality you expect. Invest in ergonomic office furniture from day one and you shouldn’t have to think about new office furniture for a good while.

Uniforms

If your employees wear uniforms to work, don’t skimp on them. Firstly, cheap uniforms are often uncomfortable for employees and tend to restrict how well they can work. Secondly, cheap uniforms don’t tend to wash well. So, if the uniforms are being washed after every shift, it’s likely they’ll start to look grubby. They may shrink in size or discolour during a wash. This can look unprofessional to clients and customers who come into contact with workers wearing uniforms. Just like many other aspects of the business, when it comes to uniforms, if you buy cheap, you buy twice.

Land upkeep

You may have a business that comes with land. For instance, a hotel, golf course or construction site. That land is part of your bread and butter so it’s important to invest in it. From watering and feeding grass to re-tarring driveways, keeping up with land maintenance is a must when it comes to a businesses image. Letting grass areas and forestry over grow won’t look appealing to potential customers, and potholes that develop in driveways or roads can cause damage to client’s vehicles. If they aren’t maintained, you could be liable for paying for the damage.

Toilet paper

It may sound like such a simple thing, and something you can easily skimp on when you need to save money for your business. However, there are lots of reasons your business should never skimp on toilet paper. Firstly, if you end up buying single-ply paper, it’s likely that your employees will end up using more paper each time they visit the toilet. That means, buying cheap toilet paper actually ends up costing you more. Secondly, your employees don’t want to use toilet paper that’s so rough it could potentially damage their bodies and make sitting feel uncomfortable. Similarly, if clients regularly visit your premises and use the public toilets, your toilet paper could be an indication to them of how you treat clients and what you’re willing to spend.

Technology

Technology can be expensive, so it’s easy to see why businesses would want to keep costs down. However, technology is advancing quicker than ever before. That being said, if you’re not willing to invest in new technologies, it could mean your business is left behind and your competitors speed ahead. There should always be money in the budget for innovative ways of working because investing in technology will save you time and money.

It’s smart to try and save money in business, but there are some things you should never skimp on.