In this industry, watching your business expenses is the most important part of being successful. After all, your total expenses generally tie in directly with your profit margins. Furthermore, the total profits that a company sees at the end of the year can play into bonuses for management; as well as the ability to hire more employees in subsequent years to continue expanding the business. While this sounds pretty cut and dry, most businesses have already done the basics of finding the cheapest suppliers. Additionally, they’ve taken other measures to make sure they are producing product at the lowest possible price. However, there are other things to take into consideration that just may save you more money than you ever thought possible.
Employee Theft
Most owners don’t want to think of their employees in this light. However, the fact of the matter is that one in three employees will steal something from their workplace at some point during their career. This can range from something really small such as a box of torch lighters from the back room to something expensive like a case of high end vodka. But don’t start suspecting all of your employees and treating them like criminals; it is easier to put in basic security checkpoints to weed out theft. Most theft is bred from opportunity, so make it difficult to steal. Use a single monitored entry point and surveillance cameras throughout the business. That way, you can discourage your employees from attempting theft and lower your business expenses.
Energy Costs
Energy expenses can be a business’ biggest enemy; especially if you operate a large venue such as a restaurant or nightclub. Nightclubs are usually filled to the brim with computer POS stations, lighting, and sound systems. These all suck energy like it is going out of style! One of the best things you can do is to have all of the computers and other equipment setup to power down at a certain time; unless there is human intervention. This will save you a ton of energy costs over time, yet still allow for employees to stay late to finish up any necessary work.
For restaurants, energy efficiency is the name of the game. It may seem to be a good idea to stick with a piece of equipment that is still working fine. However, you may be able to offset the cost of a new piece of equipment with the energy saving alone. Imagine if you can produce more food in a shorter period time while also saving tons of money on energy. In reality, that new piece of equipment can sometimes pay for itself in just a matter of months. Make sure you crunch all the numbers and leave no stone unturned when finding ways to save on energy. Sadly, it is only going to become more expensive as we move forward.
Inventory Control
Another technique that can save you money is to monitor your inventory very closely. The more accurate you are with your stock levels, the less you need to order and have sitting around on your shelves. There are many great inventory tools that allow you to determine the right amount of a given item to keep in stock. That way, you never run out but never order too much; thus you keep as little cash tied up as possible. Additionally, you eliminate the risk of losing money if certain items are perishable.
This matters for small items like bottle sparklers all the way up to your liquor inventory. There are even systems that allow you to monitor and inventory liquor with a smartphone camera or tablet. So, there’s really no excuse anymore for not watching your business expenses closely. Good inventory control procedures will also factor into the employee theft problem. Ideally, you will notice a discrepancy sooner than later.
