Only cut the costs you can afford to lose
When times are tight, there are some expenses you simply cannot afford to live without.
In a world where all we seem to hear in the media are stories of soaring costs and the need to reduce our outgoings, it can be easy to be swept along with the panic and randomly slice what you can from your business’s expenses sheet. But take a moment to calculate the real cost to your Company of cutting those annual renewal fees which actively protect your assets and you could end up paying far more in a short space of time.
According to Policy Bee (policybee.co.uk), the proportion of UK SMEs without any insurance cover grew from 40% in 2021 to 44% in 2022. That’s more than 2.4 million companies working without insurance of any kind to protect them. I don’t know about you, but I just wouldn’t sleep at night without knowing that someone has my back should the worst happen in my business!
So what about your website?
I’m not talking about cyber insurance here (though that’s a good idea too), I talking about that Support Contract you have – the one that means your website is always monitored, updated, cared for, etc – through good times AND bad. The peace of mind this gives means you’re free to focus on what you do best – growing your business.
Without it, your only hope is to hope nothing goes wrong.
Ask yourself this:
How much would it cost your business in real terms if your website went down for a day?
Lost sales, potential customers, visibility – these are all the obvious things. Then there’s damage to reputation – you’d be amazed how quickly people “deduce” you’re no longer operating if they can’t get onto your website after trying twice in ten minutes!
Listen, I get it – utilities prices are higher than ever, office rents are creeping up again, and don’t even get me started on what it costs behind the scenes just to open the doors every day. I’m right here in the trenches with you and I’ll be the first to admit that I review our “ins and outs” regularly to ensure we’re getting the best possible return for our outgoing payments.
And that’s the difference.
When you’re reviewing your regular outgoings, rather than look at the cost, try instead to review the Return On Investment.
If your website “breaks down” (infamous Fiona car analogy coming up!), what is it worth to you to have someone you can call who will jump on and sort it all out for you, there and then? Pretty important to have, right? Well, sadly we’ve seen a few clients over the last year who’ve chosen to not renew their Support Contract for their website – and seen it cost them dearly when something went wrong and they suddenly found themselves on the hard shoulder of that information superhighway, with no-one to help get them up and running again.
So how can we avoid this happening to you?
Here are a few simple questions to run through if Support is something you’re considering cutting from your annual budget, to help you make an informed decision.
Sidebar: We’re not specifically talking about our own service here, this could also apply to your IT support, software support contracts, etc with any provider.
Start by asking yourself / your provider:
- How many times have I actually called upon / used this service in the last year? – Your provider should be able to give you this information and you may be surprised that it’s more often than you realised
- If I don’t renew, what will be the cost of a call-out / request for assistance, if you offer this at all? – This gives you real figures on which to base your decision
- What do I need to do / have someone in my team do on a regular basis to ensure all is well with our website if we were to do this ourselves?
The latter is a great one and I can help you with that right now, as this is something I covered in my recent Amazon best-selling book Website Mastery for Business Owners who Don’t Speak Tech. Head over to www.websitemasterybook.com and grab your copy online – there is a whole chapter in there which details everything you need to be checking on a monthly basis to ensure your site is up and running smoothly.
Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll know whether cutting your Support contract was a great saving or a serious risk to your business stability and continuity. Only you can decide. Use this method and make sure it is an informed decision that really works for you.
Writing this article has reminded me of the time I cancelled my Car Breakdown cover because I “haven’t used it for a year” – that was fun hearing that repeated back to me on the side of a dark, wet motorway in the midlands as I hurriedly re-subscribed by phone…
Have you read our best-selling book: Website Mastery for Business Owners who Don’t Speak Tech?
Download a free chapter or buy your copy from http://www.websitemasterybook.com