Managing the finances of a mid-to-large business can often feel like catching water in a sieve. From payroll, to operational costs, to R&D, every business process or activity has some kind of price tag. And while the adage that you need to spend money to make money is often true, there are many businesses out there that are wasting money without good reason.
Let’s go over a few financial blind spots that could be costing your company.
1. Technology Bloat
At its best, business technology helps us fix problems, operate better, and capitalize on new opportunities. But it’s a fine line between technology with purpose, and technology for its own sake. According to G2, businesses collectively waste $40 billion every year on unused SaaS tools. It can be tempting to get the latest tools and technology, but without a clearly defined technology strategy that guides and validates any given investment, your business is at risk of wasting money on outdated, duplicate, or underused software and hardware. Think of it this way: if you’re going to throw money at a problem, you best make sure the problem actually exists. For instance, there’s no point in spending thousands of dollars every month on complex software for the entire company if it’s only relevant to a handful of people.
2. Poor hiring decisions
Aside from revenue, employee headcount is a key indicator of business growth. Ironically, a poorly managed hiring process can undercut that growth with excessive costs and little benefit. For instance, if every prospective hire faces a gauntlet of interviews where they have to repeat themselves every session and sense a lack of organization, then the best candidates will likely take their talents elsewhere. The more drawn out the process, the longer the company must wait before seeing value from the position.
But this doesn’t mean companies should rush into new hires, as the wrong hire can cost a business far more than an empty seat. According to the US Department of Labor, a bad hire typically costs a business 30% of that employee’s wages for the first year. This doesn’t account for indirect costs associated with bad hires, like lost productivity and managerial time.
3. Haphazard Outsourcing
Outsourcing is vital for business growth, as it allows the organization to benefit from skills and expertise that aren’t internally available. Outsourcing also takes care of tasks that are important, but that internal resources simply don’t have the time or capacity to do properly. But given the vast range of available talent and types of activities that can be outsourced, there’s a good chance your outsourcing strategy is wasting money. As Wealthy Gorilla founder Dan Western notes, many companies outsource relatively simple tasks that could easily be done in house. The reverse can also be true: if a certain task or activity is taking too much time and resources, outsourcing (or automating) can save money in the long run.
4. Poorly managed tickets and entertainment assets
The hallmark of a financial blind spot is that it’s hard to know what you don’t know. Or more specifically, if you don’t know to look for something, you won’t know it isn’t there. For many businesses, this applies to the value, utilization, and ROI of tickets and entertainment assets. An event ticket has far more value than its price tag: the experience of the event can serve to retain employees, get prospects over the finish line, and reward hard work. But unless you have a system in place to track how each ticket is allocated and utilized, then determining this value is a shot in the dark.
A ticket management platform can shine a light on this financial blind spot. TicketOS helps you measure the effect and ROI of your company’s entertainment assets with clear reporting and tracking of the entire ticket lifecycle.
If you’d like to see just what an advanced ticket management platform is capable of, we’ve got you covered. Schedule a TicketOS demo today and learn how our software can solve your ticket management concerns.