When people are making a purchase they often will be taken back by the price of the item or service, especially when they’re paying for quality. It’s the “sticker shock”. It’s the up-front fees that are hard to swallow. There’s a mental wall that goes up with writing in big, bold letters, “I CAN’T AFFORD THIS!” But they’re not looking at the big picture. Sometimes, despite a cost up front, money can actually be saved.
Let’s look at an example of a camping cooler. You can buy a higher-end cooler for $100 which will last for five years. Or you can save yourself some money and buy a lower-end cooler for $25 which, due to various factors like breakage or simply not keeping items cold, needs to be replaced once per year. Over the five year period you will have spent $125 by “saving” money each year. And don’t forget about the intangible benefits such as not having the frustration or having to spend the time and money to drive to the store to buy a new each year or sending more to the landfill.
The same goes with software, especially software that allows for automation of processes. Sure there are possible costs up front for implementation, customization and training. What if that cost you $3000? That’s a good chunk of money leaving your business! However, what if in that $3000 an automation is set up to send reminders to clients for their overdue payment so one of your admin staff doesn’t need to? If that person made phone calls for payment follow-ups for five hours per week, forty-nine weeks of the year and made $20 per hour the total cost of would be $4900. In a sense that’s $1900 leaving your business in the first year and even more each year following because that $3000 was a one-time fee. And there are intangible benefits like freeing up the time of that person to work on other projects that could take your business even further.
When you look at the big picture and get past the sticker-shock of an initial investment, you could save money. How much money is your business losing by being afraid of initial costs?
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