I can’t believe I have to say this, but I keep running into people who are just throwing their money away.
Every dollar you shave off the bottom line is a dollar in your pocket
You need to be thinking of ways to cut costs every time you spend money! Again, that doesn’t mean you have to be cheap. But if you have spontaneous tendencies and on a whim decide to go get some embroidered polo shirts or some foam fingers with your logo on them and you run right over to the local t-shirt, trophy and tool rental shop — stop and ask yourself these two things:
- will this purchase make me money
- Did I check for cheeper sources. (probably online)
I understand that sometimes you want something for your business even if it will not have a direct return on investment in terms of sales. There could be benefits that are hard to quantify – such as exposure and reputation. As long as you don’t do this all the time you will probably be ok. For those times that you choose to spend some money on something silly make sure you are getting the best price. Salespeople are good (sometimes) and we can all be sold… so just be careful.
It amazes me when a client comes to me and tells me about (insert cool thing here) that they just bought and I ask them where thy got it from and I just want to take that (insert cool thing here) and smash it over their head because I could have directed them to a place where they could get it for HALF what they paid.
Bottom line: Don’t throw your money away. Do your research and talk to others in your network and find the best price. Chances are that 10 minutes on Google will get you a better price.