Six Common Mistakes Businesses Make That Could Be Very Costly

Anita Ginsburg

December 09, 2014

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There's hardly a business out there that feels like it has too much money. Most of the time, business are trying to save more and spend less. However, boosting the budget line doesn't have to come from cutting corners. In fact, these common mistakes might be devouring your bottom line.

Not seeking legal advice

While you may be great at marketing, product development, or client relations, you'll need more legal knowledge than can be gleaned from search engine results. When you think you may be in legally murky water, it's time to consult an attorney, say the experts at Doré Law Group.

Skimping on human resources

There's a reason why all large companies have hefty human resources departments. When set up appropriately, a human resources department will protect employees from abuse and discrimination while protecting the company from litigation. For this to work, however, the department can't be packed with people who won't enforce appropriate policies.

Not getting a risk assessment

Every business has risks involved in day to day operations including inventory loss, employee danger, database corruption, and so on. It's important for these risks to be assessed every so often by an outside consultant.

Not listening to customers

Far too often, business owners disregard input from customers. They say that the customers don't understand, that they used the product wrong, or that the customer's actions caused the problem. However, customer input needs to direct the future of company development, or the company won't be meeting the needs of their market.

Promoting inappropriately

Every company likes to say that they, "promote from within," but doing so can be pretty costly. It's never a good idea to promote a great employee on that basis alone. Instead, you need to seriously consider if the employee will fill the needs of the new position. After all, someone who is a great engineer won't necessarily make a great manager.

Lack of employee development

Employee turnover costs employers endless amounts of money. Some costs, like unemployment or resulting lawsuits are obvious. However, other costs, like hiring and training a new employee, are harder to track. Instead, it's much more cost efficient to engage in smart hiring practices and try to retrain under performing employees.

Far too many businesses turn to the bottom line to determine how great their company is running. However, by ignoring common business mistakes, they could be wasting tens of thousands of dollars, or more, a year.