Hidden Costs - Can Make You or Break You
Posted by Corey Breed on
Back in the 80's, the decade of excess, we were told that "Greed is good" and most everyone liked Donald Trump - or at least he didn't receive the same public vitriol he is today. His first New York Times Bestseller - The Art of the Deal - came out when I was a kid and I remember one part sticking out. A commerical building he was constructing, with rooms, the bathrooms, stairwells, offices, restrooms, was going to have +/- 1,500 doors. If he put two $10 hinges per door, instead of three, he'd save $15,000 on that what small detail.
The same advice comes from all sorts of self-help gurus like Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins. You can hear it a million times, but it never really hits home. "Mind you're own business" is how Kiyosaki puts it. Essentially you need to increase scrutiny in your own affairs to ultimately be successful. For Trump and Kiyosaki it seems more financial, with Robbins having a more psychological, and self improving perspective.
When I first got started, I wasn't paying attention to all the "little fees." Granted most were hidden as well as the additional fees on a phone bill, but still I should have been paying more attention because they were eating me alive. A point here for the credit card processor, a point here for the gateway used by the credit card processor, a cut for PayPal here, a bank service fee there and pretty soon you were talking about $1,000's of dollars a year. I don't have to explain to a fellow business owner just what a few thousands can really mean in the first years of business.
It's something that's finally become more second nature with me, although there's always room for improvement. Even if you're not in the HVAC, or home performance business, there's always something ongoing little expense that's slowly chipping away at your bottom line. If it's not a consumable, like disposable duct mask or grill seal, then maybe it's where you buy gas for your fleet. That station may be right down the street, but what if it's 5 cents a gallon higher? Do your techs in the field just choose what's easiest for them? Can you really get more website conversions using Bing® or Yahoo® instead of Google® - at half the price? ( I seem to be able to, for some reason FYI.)
I tell my kids to mind their own business, and I recommend you do too!