No business owner is safe from their numerous business costs. But there are things you can do to protect your finances against unexpected costs. Know that this pertains to more than just your routine expenses like equipment maintenance, taxes, payment delays, and professional fees. There are other things that can ruin your brand’s financial health. Avoiding these three things frees you from the costly financial headache each one can cost your business.
Workplace Injuries
According to statistics, about 540 work injuries occur every hour. In 2019, businesses paid an average of $1,100 per worker. As for every medically consulted injury, the costs reached up to $42,000.
Different workplace injuries can ruin your business. This can include injuries you caused intentionally, through non-compliance, denying injury, and even toxic torts. If you don’t want to end up losing employees and a substantial amount of money, ensure you improve your workplace safety.
You can avoid workplace injuries by:
- Being proactive
- Getting a lawyer
- Placing signs and hazard tapes
- Investing in the right equipment
- Taking out the right business insurance
- Providing adequate training to your employees
- Keeping the workplace safe and well-maintained
- Providing employees with the right tools and personal protective equipment
Workplace injuries can stop your production and cause delays within the business. You could lose the confidence of your other employees. If your customers find out about this, you can even lose your reputation and chase away even your most loyal consumers.
Injuries in the workplace can also lead to a lawsuit. Your injured employees will require compensation and have the right to get a reputable personal injury lawyer. The best way you can avoid this is to ensure the safety of your employees and make sure to reasonably compensate injure staff.
Toxic Employees
Toxic employees can come in many forms. This is not just your typical employee who is willing to sell confidential business data to your rival companies. There are more types of toxic employees other than those that love to spread lies and gossip around the office.
Some employees tend to be mindless browsers. What they do all day is browse different social media before getting any of their work done. They know about the latest news in social media but check their performance, and they are way behind their deadlines.
There are employees who simply love to complain. While they may be capable of finishing their tasks on time, such toxicity can affect other employees. Their negativity can influence others to do the same and soon you have a group of employees who waste time nagging and complaining.
Then there’s one that is holding back other employees. They love to bring others down who do nothing but work longer hours, hits targets way before the deadline, and helps others with their tasks. They want others to do less or else the management will end up expecting more from them as well.
There are other types of bad employees that won’t do your business any good. It is important that you learn how to spot them. Have a policy in place that will deal with your worst employees and don’t be afraid to let them go if needed.
Bad PR
They say bad publicity is still publicity. But if you can’t handle bad public relations, then your business will have a hard time thriving. Know that bad press can ruin your reputation, turn off old and potential clients, and ruin employee’s morale.
As much as possible, you want to avoid bad publicity at all costs. There will be times when your business could face controversial topics. But choosing to stay silent and not do anything about it won’t help you fix your reputation.
The sad thing is, the internet makes it so easy to spread the news about different businesses. Luckily, there are a few ways you can avoid and prevent bad publicity. Here’s some to consider.
- Hire a reliable PR manager
- Always have a contingency plan
- Don’t retaliate with angry comments
- Never promise anything you can’t keep
- Do your research before posting anything
- Address customer and employee issues asap
- Stay away from controversy and sensitive issues
- Take the blame if needed and apologize sincerely
- Address controversial topics and issues with care
- Respond to criticism the fast and professional way
- Own up to your mistakes and find ways to resolve them
- Invest in high-quality materials and reputable equipment
These three things can ruin your business overnight. You don’t want to end up having disgruntled employees, angry customers, or even injured staff waiting to sue you. You can consider these tips in mind and save thousands of dollars by avoiding bad PR, toxic employees, and workplace injuries from harming your business.
