Monday, July 8, 2013

40 Ways Small Business Owners Waste Their Money


We were curious to see where business owners waste the most money in the early days. So we reached out and asked what small business owners thought was the #1 biggest money waster for small business owners. Some common answers focused on different aspects of office space, marketing and hiring staff. Hopefully this list can help you avoid some of these mistakes and help you better invest your businesses money.

1. Bad Advertising – Most new small business owners get bombarded people trying to sell ad space. Do your research and determine if your customer profile matches that of the publishers audience. And don’t commit to long term anything. If they stand behind their product, they should allow you to test it for your business. Chris Sonjeow of LoveBookOnline.com

2. Space is the biggest and most common money waster I’ve seen for small businesses / entrepreneurs in my 22 years of business experience. I’ve seen supposedly educated business people and naïve newcomers overpay, overbuild and overspend on buildings, lease, rent storefronts, leasehold improvements, fixtures, and signage. Rich Patterson of PattersonBrands.com

3. The place I’ve seen my clients waste the most money is in paying for custom websites they don’t need. There are a lot of great companies offering template-based solutions for all kinds of sites now that will keep a small business’ costs down while they’re learning what they need in a site. Leona Laurie of ohleona.com

4. The number 1 waste of money for a young startup is either developing a business plan or outsourcing front-end development. The first wastes your time and money since investors typically only require a 1-pager to vet your company, and the latter (if you’re building a web-app) proves that your team is not adequate and will most likely get outperformed by your peers.