New business ventures and their hidden costs

To stop your business from failing prematurely, it’s important to understand the costs that are involved in starting up a new business. In order to be successful, a business must plan and understand the costs involved in a new start-up venture. To ensure that your venture starts on the right step, together with Flogas – specialists in mains gas supply – we explore those hidden costs that you may not have originally considered.

Gas and electricity bills
Micro businesses that are based in the UK use an average of 7,500 kWh of electricity, which costs around £1,062. Moving up to a small business, they would pay £2,038 per year, which is around 15,000 kWh of power. A medium sized business is likely to pay £3,146 (25,000 kWh), whereas a large industrial business will more than often pay for 60,000 kWh, which equates to £7,346 per year.

If your business uses a gas connection, it should also be considered that a small business will use 10,000 kWh per year, which will cost around £430 annually. A medium-sized business will pay £856 a year, using 25,000 kWh of power, while a larger business will use 45,000 kWh, which will cost around £1,424.

How to make sure your staff feel valued
When a business is starting out, it can be difficult to ensure that everyone feels valued when a team of new staff members are put together. Therefore, when employees are working hard and delivering results, it’s important to show them respect and appreciation, so that your labour turnover stays low and you are not having to repeatedly pay for the training of new employees.

Employee of the month initiatives and workplace socials are great ideas to ensure that morale stays high within the workplace, and so that everyone in the business stay involved and interconnected. Although there is a cost involved with these types of events, it helps employees bond and get to know each other on a personal level.

So that employees can stay on top of their workload and their targets, continuous training should be given to those who feel that they need it.

Using a business model that is always current
You’re bound to face a lot of fierce competition, no matter what industry you’re working within. Technology can help you to implement your business model effectively, which will help you to stay on top of orders and ahead of your competitors.

In the workplace, more efficient practices can be encouraged in this way – this is because employees can carry out tasks on the move with smart devices and tablets. By adding robust security measures alongside these technologies, you will avoid becoming a victim of the 3.6 million cases of fraud and 2 million cases of computer misuse reported this year.

Even though there are many costs involved within a start-up business venture, by investing in the right ways in the short-term, this may lead to cost reductions in the long term.