How To Contol Expenses And Increase Profitability
By Tom Egelhoff
 If you took a poll of business owners and asked
what the most difficult task in running a business is, the almost
overwhelming answer would be, how to keep expenses under control.
What exactly is a business expense? What is a business investment?
In previous articles I have pointed out that advertising or
marketing that works, produces paying customers, and bring in
more than it costs, is not an expense, it's an investment. Money
is often spent but the profit may not be realized until later.
I can't tell you how many businesses I've worked with who
put business cards under office expense. Business cards, letterheads
and envelopes actually belong under advertising expense. It's
still an expense but it works toward an increase in sales. Staples
and paper clips rarely increase the bottom line.
Three ways to increase profitability
There are three major ways to increase the profitability of
your business:
- Find a way to increase sales of
your products or services without a major increase in advertising
or promotion expense. I know this sounds very elementary
but many businesses overlook it.
Possible Problem: If you are going to have an in-store
sale or business promotion the cost of the promotion can often
be more costly than the business the promotion brings in.
Solution: Can you create free publicity in your sales
area? Would a local industry expert give a free seminar? Tie
your business to a local or national event and alert the media
that a special event is taking place. Don't have a sale or promotion
just because you haven't had one in a while.
- Raise your prices: If
something costs $1.00 and you raise it to $1.10, the entire .10¢
should go to the bottom line. Costs should not have changed unless
the supplier raised the price to you.
Problem: Loss of customers due to price increase. Defection
of customers if the competition keeps the same price or lowers
it.
Solution: Find ways to position your product or service
away from your competitor and create greater value in the product.
If it's the same brand name as your competitor, make the addition
of your company to the sale mix more valuable to the customer.
Domino's Pizza© was the first national company to offer
30 minute delivery. Doing business with them, for the same product,
was more convenient.
- Decrease your expenses:
Any reduction of expenses will always go directly to the bottom
line. But, where to cut?
Possible Problem: Common cost cutters are reducing personnel
and/or reducing inventory. Both can cost you. Cut personnel and
you reduce personal service to customers. Cut inventory and you
become known as the store that has to order everything.
Solution: Start at the top. Things like expensive offices,
overstuffed chairs and excessive bonuses send the wrong message
to employees that excessive spending is OK. Encourage employees
to submit cost cutting ideas regularly and reward them with recognition,
even if the idea is unusable. Wal-Mart© is a perfect example.
Small town businesses hate them but one of their strengths is
they encourage employee involvement in the company. The greeter
at the front door was an employee suggestion. Wal-Mart's headquarters
are in Bentonville, Arkansas compared to the rent J.C.Penny©
and Sears© pay in Chicago and Dallas.
The two kinds of expenses to control
If you haven't already guessed they are fixed expenses
and variable expenses. You'll find these two in any first
year accounting book.
Fixed expenses do not change. They are fixed for a
specified period of time. Some examples might be; rent, lease
expenses, quarterly taxes and insurance.
When I was working with the video companies in San Diego,
we would not place a store into a shopping center without a minimum
of two months free rent. Rent can be reduced if you are a high
traffic draw to the area. We were a high draw as a video store.
People came to our stores every few days. The point here is that
certain fixed expenses are often negotiable.
Leases are negotiable for length of lease, buyout at the end
and other terms and conditions that can reduce expenses.
Insurance can be reduced by adhering to safety directives,
security practices and amounts and types of coverage.
Employers were often given a tax break for hiring me because
I am a Viet Nam Vet.
Variable expenses do change and can be all over the place
from month to month. Variable expenses usually go up and
down with sales. More sales, more inventory purchases etc. This
is where most of the problems begin. With fixed expenses you
know what they are each month. Variable expenses can suddenly
put you in the "poor house" in as little as one month.
Large payments that seemed doable when the order was placed may
suddenly create a drain on resources.
Tip: If your company has a history of expenses over
the past three years, list all the variable expenses from those
balance sheets. Compute the highest amount paid and the average
amount paid for each period and keep it handy. When the bill
for that variable expense comes across your desk compare it to
the high and low for the corresponding time period. If the amount
is out of line, do more investigating. Warning: Do not
rely on this method instead of an accountant.
Expense Planning
Let's assume you are an employee of your company and you just
got paid. On the way home you go to the grocery store, pick up
a couple of movies at the video store, get gas and take your
spouse out to dinner.
The next day you sit down to pay the bills and realize that
you spent too much at the grocery because of impulse buying,
you had stuff on tape at home to watch and dinner ended up being
more than you planned on. As a result you must put some bills
on hold or send partial payments.
Well, businesses often react the same way. The boss assumes
the bookkeeper in on top of things and signs all the checks.
But he or she doesn't always have a handle on the financial position
of the company at every given moment.
It's 10:00 PM. Do you know where your money is?
My home town of Bozeman, Montana has become an embezzler's
paradise in the past couple of years. We have had at least six
people charged and arrested due to embezzlement from their companies.
Some amounts as high as $250,000. How many more are out there?
Part of the problem is that Montana is 50th in per capita income
in the United States. (You
can help, Buy my book.)
The point here is that you sometimes want to delegate the
unpleasant or boring tasks of bookkeeping to someone else. You
assume the bookkeeper is working in your best interest. 99% of
the time the employee is absolutely honest but there is still
that 1% that some of our local businesses discovered...the hard
way.
Cutting expenses means keeping on top of what is happening
to your company. We had a company here in Bozeman that could
have been saved at one point with as little as $50,000 had the
situation been discovered in time. Time went on and the situation
was not corrected. When an accountant was finally brought in,
and the problem diagnosed, the amount needed to save the company
had grown to $150,000...too much for the owners to handle and
they went out of business. This business closure could have been
prevented with a closer look at the condition of the company
by a qualified professional.
My rule of thumb, - the smaller the company, the more you
need an accountant. Or at least a qualified bookkeeper. If you've
ever had a fish tank, you know that the smaller the tank the
fewer mistakes you can make. A minor mistake in a small tank
means...dead fish. A major mistake in a large tank means...sick
fish.
While your business is in the small tank stage, work with
an accountant and find ways to cut expenses and increase profits.
Re-negotiate leases, insurance and rent, if possible. Stay abreast
of changing tax laws and tax benefits your business may qualify
for. Stay on top of variable expenses. Remember, you can't control
what you can't see. Have a qualified professional take a closer
look at your business on a regular basis.
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This article may be reproduced for your non-profit
group or organization provided it is not altered in any way and
the following is attached:
©1998 - 2004 Eagle Marketing PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT
59771-0271
http://www.smalltownmarketing.com - (406) 585-0219 - Toll FREE
(888) 550-6100
email: tommail@smalltownmarketing.com
Based in Bozeman, MT, Tom Egelhoff is the author of How To Market, Advertise & Promote Your
Business Or Service In A Small Town, and The
Small Town Advertising Handbook: How To Say More And Spend Less.
He is also a seminar and workshop presenter
and trainer. He may be reached at 888-550-6100 or PO Box
271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271
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