Is your business bleeding money? Are your costs out of line with the goods or services you receive? Are you sick and tired of getting ripped off?
If so, do yourself a favor and review your actual operating expenses. Chances are you can whittle them down immediately if you reevaluate your needs and make a few key changes.
One of the best articles I?ve seen on the topic is?an AllBusiness.com post by Matthew McKenzie. He offers 10 concrete money-saving tips that are timely and on point; below, I expand on my seven favorites.
1. Don?t Pick the Wrong Credit Card Processor
In this day and age, most businesses, especially retail outfits, consider it financial suicide not to accept credit cards. And it?s true ??customers know how they plan to pay before they ever walk into your store; if they see that you won?t accept their credit card, they?ll find a competitor who does.
Knowing that the option to pay with plastic is so important to your customers, how do you offer that convenience without taking a bath on the deal?
For starters, McKenzie suggests evaluating your credit card processing company and its fee structure very carefully. You may be able to get certain fees waived just for asking. McKenzie points to this free e-book from FeeFighters.org and? the Merchant Bill of Rights site for guidance in saving on credit card processing fees.
2. Never Lease a Point-of-Sale Terminal
Considering that you can buy a credit card payment terminal for a couple hundred bucks, why would you rent one for $20 a month? That?s the typical fee for a 48-month contract, which would have you paying nearly $1,000 in the long run for a piece of gear that?s worth much, much less.
3. Don?t Buy Extended Warranties
I?m the kind of shopper who thinks that if the product I am buying is good enough to be offered through my favorite retailers, its standard warranty should be adequate, too. I encourage you to adopt the same mindset and act accordingly.
Why?
Because, as McKenzie puts it, ?If a product is going to break, it?s more likely to break either right away, when it?s still covered by the manufacturer?s warranty, or after the extended warranty expires.?
I?ve gotten so fed up with extended warranty sales pitches that now, when a rep launches into one, I ask, ?Are you saying this product is junk?? Trust me ? the question makes them blush and they quickly drop the subject!
4. Give Up Your Identity Theft Insurance
If you?ve purchased identity theft insurance in the last few years, I suggest rethinking your decision. This is a clear case of the insurance industry capitalizing on fear-mongering and creating policies that McKenzie calls ?riddled with gotchas and loopholes.?
For example, did you know that even though identity theft is most often committed by a family member, identity theft insurance won?t cover your losses if you?re ripped off by a loved one? It?s a sad truth, as is the fact that identity theft insurance doesn?t reimburse stolen funds, either! So what good is it, really?
5. Don?t Buy Low-Deductible Insurance
As long as we?re on the topic of insurance, another thing to avoid is a low-deductible plan. If you?re a typical policyholder, you?ll?go for years without filing a claim; it?makes far?better sense to pay a lower premium for a higher-deductible plan. Just be sure?you can?set aside enough money in your emergency fund to cover?that higher deductible, should the need arise. That way, you?ll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you?re covered, you?ll just pay a lot less for it.
6. Steer Clear of Online Marketing Consultants
If you have a web site, you?ll need to ensure that search engines can find, index and display your relevant content. The discipline is known as Search Engine Optimization/Search Engine Marketing (SEO/SEM) and it?s a $20 billion/year industry.
But McKenzie advises against signing on with an expensive SEO consultant. He points to Brandt Dainow?s 7 ways SEO consultants rip off their clients on iMedia Connection, which exposes what the author calls ?a toolbox of tricks with which to extract money from na?ve SEO clients.?
The takeaway: As a small business owner, you?ll do well to learn the basics of SEO/SEM for yourself.??The best?FREE resource I know of is SEO Fast Start by?Dan Thies and Leslie Rohde.? Believe me, these guys know what Google wants ? and?they?re willing to share their knowledge with you. Let them!
7. Don?t Overuse Your Inkjet Printer
Never print routine text files on an inkjet printer. The ink is prohibitively expensive?and worse, many such machines force you to change cartridges that are still as much as half full! At a cost of nearly $5,000 a gallon, your inkjet cartridges should be reserved for photos, graphics and presentations. For routine black-and-white print jobs, use a laser printer, instead. Those pages cost only one-third to one-sixth as much as inkjet-printed pages.
Nuff Said!
McKenzie concluded his article with three other?rip-offs?that every small business should?avoid:
- Overpaying for mobile service
- Unreasonable travel-related charges
- Padded employee expense reports
Unfortunately, I do not see how you can avoid the first one ??overpaying for mobile service. No matter what data plan you choose, McKenzie says you can expect your provider to tack on about 14.5 percent each month in taxes, fees and surcharges. There?s simply no getting around this one ? mobile service is very expensive; think long and hard about whether you really need it.
Finally, the best way I know of to reduce travel expenses is to leverage technologies that eliminate the need for business travel all together. There are plenty of solutions that let you meet face-to-face from the comfort of your office or conference room. That means you don?t have to catch a plane and reserve a room every time you need to connect with a long-distance client. So if you don?t yet have a web cam, now?s the time to get one!
Getting ripped off ? We?d love to hear your story! Sound off below! And if you liked this article, please be sociable and share!
Image Credits:
Ripoff graffiti: erokism http://www.flickr.com/photos/10295270@N05/
Cave man ID: Don Hankin http://www.flickr.com/photos/23905174@N00/
Computer hands: ganderssen1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/78855484@N03/
+Janice Conard is a U.S. Air Force veteran who studied writing, art and politics at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned her Bachelor of General Studies degree. She?s been writing for the web since 1999, having covered business and technology topics for TechRepublic, ZDNet and BNET (now CBS MoneyWatch). These days Janice writes about personal and business finance for online check printer CheckAdvantage. Visit the site to browse a huge selection of personal checks as well as matching address labels and more.
Related posts:
- Are You Covered? A Business Insurance Primer
- Business Checks and Small Business Accounts
- Preventing Identity Theft at Your Small Business
- What to Do When a Collector Calls (and Won?t Stop Calling)
- How to Stop Electronic Pickpockets
Source: http://blog.checkadvantage.com/2012/08/22/7-ripoffs-to-avoid/
randy moss randy moss hunger games premiere the bachelor good morning america red meat bachelor ben
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.