Money isn’t the most important thing in life by a long shot, but it is a key that opens many doors that lead to some of life’s greatest experiences. While you may not be a better person if you suddenly win the lottery tomorrow, you’ll certainly be a person with a lot more opportunities laid out before you, and the potential to do dramatically different things with your day-to-day life.
A funny thing about the lottery example, though. Around 70% of lottery winners apparently go bankrupt. Some weird research has even found that the neighbours of lottery winners are likely to go bankrupt — probably from trying to “keep up with the Joneses.”
This financial dynamic certainly doesn’t only apply in people’s private lives either, but in the lives of businesses, also. Wasted financial resources, and poor financial management, can result in even the most productive company facing hard times.
Here are some investments that you can make in your business to prevent financial waste.
Regular Team-Building and Ideation Workshops
David Allen, the author of the famous and much-beloved “Getting Things Done productivity book and method, has referred to the ironic situation where businesses create an environment that is fundamentally hostile to the generation and free expression of new ideas, and then are forced to bring in external “advisors” in order to compensate.
The bottom line is that any business is only as good as it is dynamic, and dynamism in business is largely a function of creating a cohesive team, who trust each other and work well together, and ensuring that the generation of new ideas is encouraged and taken advantage of.
Investing in regular team-building and ideation workshops is an excellent way of ensuring that your business doesn’t have to seek outside help in order to remain profitable.
“80/20” Tools and Items of Equipment
The “80/20” rule, also known as the Pareto principle, states that 80% of the favourable results that a business manages to achieve are due to 20% of the work put in.
This is a maxim often cited in order to encourage entrepreneurs to focus on their core tasks, and to do what they can to defer or abandon those tasks which are, essentially, non-productive.
The same principle can be applied to how resources are invested within a business. A piece of equipment such as a Precision Scale is almost certainly going to prove essential in the pharmaceutical industry, for example, where precision and hyper-accurate tools are non-negotiable must-haves.
On the other hand, filling the break room of your office with wide screen TVs may be less critical.
To reduce financial waste, invest primarily in those “20%” items and pieces of equipment.
Training for Staff
A business is only ever as competent and effective as its staff, and for that reason, it’s well worth the effort for any serious business owner to send their team members for relevant training whenever appropriate.
This could involve first aid training for people working in warehouses, or training on supplier specifications for people involved in sourcing products. It could even involve sending promising candidates to obtain an MBA, funded by the company.
Training your staff is an investment in their competence. More competent staff will save, rather than cost, the company money.
