Your startup has been incredibly successful and has been growing, the profit has been increasing, and you’ve decided to open up a brick and mortar establishment to continue your company growth. You may have done your research and planned your budget to buy or rent your new premises, researched the ideal location and also factored in costs for all the new equipment and refitting the interior. However, many people still forget to factor in some of the more hidden costs of opening up shop outside of the virtual realm. Below are three things that cost your business money when you expand which many people forget.

3 Factors That Affect Your Business Cost

Employee care

Hopefully, you’ve remembered to factor in employee wages in your costs as your business expands. However, you should also budget for your employee care. Your staff are investing their time and effort into your business, and it’s important that you show that you are investing in them. At the very least you will need some employee group medical insurance to ensure that should the worst happen and they fall ill, they are well taken care of and back to work as soon as possible. These days, mental health issues are well-documented, and you should make allowances to help support this. There are many employers who offer an Employee Assistance Programme to provide impartial advice on any personal matter that may affect an employees ability to work.

Business insurance

As a business that will be interacting with the public, you will need a variety of different levels of cover. Public liability insurance, loss and damage, and many others can all be covered under one business insurance policy. You will need to ensure that you have an appropriate level of cover. It is better to be insured and not need it than it is to need the cover and not be insured. Compare policy quotes on a like for like basis, check if loss of earnings is included, accidental damage, theft, weather damage etc. Depending on the nature of your business you may need to search for a specialist policy such as environmental insurance. Speak to other companies in your sector and ask them what level of cover and what policies they have.

Pension scheme

All employers need to offer a pension scheme, and signing your company up to a suitable 401(k) or pension plan is a great way to show your staff that you care about their futures. However, although a great pension plan will make your company more attractive to employees, it is a significant added expense. Simply making your employer’s contribution to their pension is a significant cost to the business, let alone matching any extra contributions they wish to make. You should be very generous with your estimations on potential contribution costs; it is better to overestimate and have funds left over than it is to underestimate and feel the squeeze on your bottom line.

There are many costs involved in moving your business into brick and mortar premises. However, most people are easily able to accommodate and plan for the most obvious costs. Hopefully, this article has helped to provide warning about some of the costs you may not have immediately considered, thereby allowing you to plan your business strategy that bit more effectively.