When considering business investments, you’re constantly playing a game of tug-o-war between the present and the future. You’d love to enjoy big profits today. But you know if you take too much money out of your company, you’ll have less leftover in the future.
In this post, we take a look at some investments that represent an expense right now but will pay you back in dividends later on. Check them out below.
Talent Acquisition
Acquiring talent is costly. Attracting great people is never inexpensive. In fact, most companies wind up spending a small fortune (often a significant chunk of the first year’s salary).
Why are they willing to spend so much (particularly when they can’t force workers to stick around)? The reason comes down to the future value of the employee. They know that if they can get hold of competent people, the benefits to their enterprise are almost too large to count. A single employee can come up with a breakthrough that transforms the profitability of a firm for a decade or more.
SEO Marketing
SEO is the bane of business investments for some companies’ lives. They often find themselves pouring thousands of dollars into it, only to wind up with fairly lackluster results.
The trick here is getting in as soon as possible. The earlier you start, the more time your SEO campaigns will have to grow.
In many situations, SEO marketing is essential. Often, small companies can’t compete for PPC clicks. Your only option is to build your search ranking and gain organic traffic.
Remember, in the future, your organic traffic will pay for itself many times over. Plus, once you have an SEO campaign in place, it’ll continue generating visitors for your website long-term.
Customer Service
When you ask customers what makes them choose one company over another, they’ll often say “the quality of the product.” However, research shows that consumers are actually most loyal to brands that offer the best customer service. Investing in it, therefore, makes sense.
Customer service is actually a form of marketing (not a deadweight cost). That’s because it is a touchpoint with your customers – an opportunity to show them just how great you are. When reps solve customers’ issues, it makes them feel good, creating positive associations with your firm.
Make a business investment in developing a quality customer service system early. Develop methods of upgrading customers to new products so you can use them for revenue generation as well.
Better Roofing
Commercial premises are robust, but they don’t last forever, particularly their roofing. Large flat roofs attract moisture and eventually yield mold, microbes, and other organics.
The good news is that you don’t have to replace your roof outright. You can now get commercial roof coatings that layer on top of your existing roofing materials, helping to keep water and bird droppings out. Applying a coating can sometimes extend the life of a roof a decade or more.
These are just some of the ways you can invest in your business today for a big payoff tomorrow. There are, of course, many more.
