Save Money by Trying These 3 Things First
Hiring is one of the most exciting parts of entrepreneurship. It feels like proof that your business is thriving and moving toward its goals. In theory, every new hire will help your company grow and bring in more revenue — but that doesn’t always play out.
The truth is that new hires are expensive. According to a 2016 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, it takes $4,129 and 42 days on average to bring in a new hire! Our job market right now is even tighter. Companies can also waste money by hiring the wrong people or hiring at the wrong time (ex. when they can’t afford to or could boost revenue elsewhere). If you’re getting the itch to hire right now, consider these three other ways to tighten your ship first.
1. Incentivize efficiency in your current team.
Last month, we explained how to keep great employees: Overpay them, offer them lots of vacation time, and treat them the way you would want to be treated. Those things also work as incentives! Try them and your team will stick with you and perform well. You can also set goals with built-in rewards that are tied to key performance indicators (KPIs) for each team member, and create a system that benefits high performers.
2. Upgrade your problem customers.
Every business has ball-and-chain customers. These people are high maintenance or low-margin and suck up time, money, and energy. To propel your company forward, do what you can to upgrade these problem customers. If they refuse, your company will be lighter without them, and if they accept, you’ll be in a better financial position to hire.
3. Streamline your offerings.
If a restaurant has Italian, Chinese, and Mexican food on the menu, you should probably head for the hills. Why? Well, because when you try to do too many things, you can’t do any of them well. The same is true for your business. If you have dozens of products and services, you can benefit from reducing them to the ones you’re truly excellent at. Your company will stand out from the crowd, and you’ll increase your efficiency.
-Randy Sklar
