The end of the year means a lot of things for businesses; one in particular is that the time has come to review the budget and expenditures for the past year. For those who find themselves in a position where it would be advantageous to spend any excess funds prior to the end of 2015, we’ve highlighted a few key areas where purchases have the potential to offer the maximum benefits for your business in 2016.
Investing in Business Capital Equipment Upgrades to your building and its infrastructure are wise to consider because there are generally numerous ways to benefit from them. When factoring into the equation that technology is heavily influencing virtually everything about how we run our businesses, leveraging your leftover dollars from 2015 in this area has the propensity to yield returns not only in the coming year but also for years to come.
In terms of your actual physical location, your power source, and likewise having access to a continuous power supply, is at the center of all the things that work together to keep your business up and running. As such, it’s a must to evaluate your options in this area. With solar and geothermal energy becoming more and more attractive for a bevy of reasons, chief of which are efficiency, reliability, and return on investment, many have already gravitated towards making the shift to incorporating one or both of these as a primary energy source.
Controlling your building’s systems is another example of a sound investment that will pay dividends not just over the next year, but for many years to come.
Pat Killeen – Engineered Controls
“With our Energy & Environmental Optimization (EEO) program, Engineered Controls can play a very big part in assisting new and existing building owners in the controlling their building’s energy costs,” says Pat Killeen, owner of Engineered Controls. “When considering that a building’s lighting and HVAC loads account for nearly 80% of a building’s energy usage, there are plenty of energy strategies that a Building Automation System can provide maximizing the energy strategy options available to building owners. Engineered Controls can assist in total building control and help provide a healthier and more energy efficient environment for occupants.
Today more than ever, building owners want their facilities to be environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work. They also want to optimize the energy usage without compromising comfort. Together a tall order to accomplish, but at Engineered Controls that technology is available today. Furthermore, we partner with Honeywell, a major energy products company that is spending sizable research and development funds on developing new products that will improve our lives and reduce energy.
In the maintenance industry it is not uncommon for a facility manager to pay in advance for an extended service and maintenance agreement. Engineered Controls offers our customers Planned Service Agreements (or simply PSA’s) to assist in the daily operation of their facilities. The PSA that has two elements: preventative care and routine maintenance and system-wide energy analysis. Building systems that are properly maintained and controlled will enable you to focus on the core of your business while ensuring that everything is running efficiently. This also promotes longevity of equipment, protection of employees and equipment due to proper security measures, and energy efficiency which will result in minimizing operating costs and future unplanned capital expenditures.”
All things considered, any investment you make in your building and its systems is going to benefit you greatly, both in the short and long run.
Along with your building’s key systems, you may also want to consider purchasing equipment or services that will enhance daily operations and productivity.
Eakes Office Solutions is an excellent asset to utilize, offering a variety of products and services that are beneficial for businesses to incorporate. Among these, consider the addition of Content and Document Management and Managed Print Services for the coming year. First, Content or Document Management helps you to efficiently and securely store your business information in an online destination, making it more convenient to access when and where you need it. The great part about this is you can use your PC, smart phone, tablet, MFP or scanning device to capture and send a mix of paper and electronic files. Secondly, Managed Print Services can help businesses uncover direct cost savings of 13 – 40% year over year and significant indirect cost savings by implementing a managed imaging and output environment. Print Management consists of the following three different areas – Strategy Development, Balanced Deployment and Optimized Management. This includes a full comprehensive print assessment at no cost in order to provide recommendations that will help reduce costs and allow businesses to regain control of their entire print and imaging infrastructure.
Jeff Byrnes – Eakes Office Solutions
Finally, with the ability to provide all major brands of office supplies, Eakes offers on-site consulting to allow businesses to better manage their office supply needs. Eakes works closely with clients to ensure that they are getting the exact type and amount of products they need. With its customized online approval process businesses can manage office supply orders for approval, which creates efficiencies and reduces waste thus saving companies hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Furthermore, Eakes is an authorized dealer representing dozens of quality Office Furniture brands, so they can provide solutions such as consultation, interior design, space planning, reconfiguration and installation. Jeff Byrnes of Eakes Office Solutions states, “We are a Nebraska based company founded in 1945 with twelve locations across the state. Eakes Office Solutions has provided customer-focused solutions and quality products for 70 years and we are driven to continue to provide solutions to meet the needs of today’s businesses. Any of our specialists, whether a Digital Imaging Specialist, Office Supply Specialist, or Office Furniture Specialist, provide a consultative approach in order to understand a businesses’ needs so we can offer the best possible solution. Our job is to uncover that weakness or broken process and apply the appropriate solution to help our customers achieve a business goal or strategic initiative. Please feel free to contact Eakes Office Solutions at www.eakes.com or call our Omaha location at (402) 898-3017 so we can help you make your 2016 a successful one.”
Investing in Promoting Your Business When determining where to invest your surplus funds at the end of the year, it’s important to consider what will generate revenue along with what will cut costs and enhance efficiency. Enter your marketing campaign for the coming year, which technically you should already be planning for right now! This not only includes various media components, but also includes increasing your visibility through improved signage or maximizing your presence at a trade show, just as a few examples that are integral to effective branding.
Each year the vast majority of business owners set a detailed budget and plan for marketing (sometimes not necessarily in that specific order). If you’ve yet to meet that, contemplate investing the remainder of those funds into your campaign for 2016. This is also an area where you would have the potential to reap maximum benefits if you chose to allocate excess funds from other areas before the end of the year. Putting that towards promoting your business will not only bring a return on investment, but it ensures that you remain committed to continuous promotion of your business. After all, your marketing tools and team are hard at work for you all year long, namely driving in profits and maintaining your top-of-mind recognition in the marketplace.
Discuss Your Spending Strategy With Your Accountant All of the items we’ve briefly touched upon, and many more we haven’t covered, are best decided upon after consulting with your team of advisors. In accurately evaluating your current finances as well as any useful tax strategies that may apply, your accountant will let you know the specifics as to what you have left to spend as well as what is really in your best interest to spend before the end of the year and why. This info is vital because it allows you to be effective in your end of year spending while ensuring that your books are up-to-date and accurate before any damage is done.
Finally, if you’re looking to spend some dollars before the end of the year, consider contributing to a local charity. Not only is it a great thing to do for others in your community during the holiday season, but it can also be a good idea with respect to your business finances.
Planning ahead is always helpful, and in this instance, having money to spend prior to the end of the year can be an excellent way to get a few key things in place for the coming year. Pinpointing the things that you can do now to best position yourself for the future is the first step towards taking your business to the next level in 2016!