Hearing Aid Practitioners: Six Tips to Lower Operating Expenses

Hearing aid practitioners, whether owners of a single outlet or a chain of stores across a geo-specific service area, are feeling the pinch, just like all small business owners.

So, where can you cut back? Well, cutting back on services creates backlogs of evaluations and unhappy customers. Cutting back on marketing, which may seem like a natural, is actually the worst thing any small business owner can do during difficult economic times. This misstep will actually bring even fewer customers through the front door.

IS THIS CALL NECESSARY?

So, where can the hearing aid practitioner, or any small service provider, turn to cut some costs while still delivering the highest quality services. Time to pull out the company books to scour your operating costs. Guaranteed, you’ll find places to cut corners that clients won’t even see.

HVAC Tune-Up

What’s it cost to heat and cool your store? Well, depending on square footage, I’ll bet it’s a few hundred bucks a month, 12 months a year. A store that’s too hot or too cold isn’t inviting so creating the right environment is critical to keeping clients on site and comfortable.

A simple heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) tune-up can save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars annually. Caution: hire a company with HVAC certified technicians to make sure you’re getting the job done correctly.

Depending on the technician’s analysis, it may actually pay to replace the wheezing air-conditioner on the roof or the clanky old furnace in the basement. However, before you write the big check, get a second opinion and a second estimate from another HVAC professional.

Update Signage

Your outlet signs, seen from the street, are a constant reminder of your store’s presence for all of those vehicles that pass by each day. And sure enough, some of those drivers will be looking for a hearing aid  - and soon.

The signs visible from the street are excellent tools for driving store traffic. Of course, your signs must be in compliance with local zoning regs so check them out. Also, your signage should announce special services like “Walk-Ins Welcome.”

Clean, professional, compliant with local zoning regulations and eye-catching – never under-estimate the importance of signs, visible from the road, to pull in foot traffic.

Renegotiate Your Lease If You Rent Your Store

If times are tough, call the owner of your store and explain the situation. Offer to renegotiate the lease to keep your business viable.

Here’s the thing: if your store is in a strip mall or professional office building, the landlord would rather have some rent coming in than having to face the expense of finding a new tenant. A FOR RENT sign on a retail outlet is also bad for other businesses that make up the complex.

Don’t expect the store owner to do back flips but at least see if there’s some wiggle room. For example, renegotiate the lease with increasing rents so in the first or second year you’re paying less but as each year goes by, the rent increases and the property owner breaks even after six or seven years.

It’s important to avoid painting yourself into a corner, and in fact, don’t expect much negotiation from the landlord. However, consider cost-cutting options – handling your own trash pick-ups or window cleaning, for example. If you can save a few bucks here and there, it adds up, and may enable you to keep a valued staff member on payroll.

Telecommute the Staff

The back office – your bookkeeper, administrative assistant, hearing aid tech and others who don’t work directly with customers can often work from home simply by adding software to your in-store system.

Repairs can be done at the tech’s home and paperwork – most of which is digital – can be done anywhere there’s a high-speed digital connection. Offer up this benefit instead of a cash raise. You won’t have any trouble convincing store workers that missing the morning traffic jam is an improvement in quality of life.

Rotate Practitioners’ Schedules

If it comes down to letting go a valued professional, offer the option of sharing a position with other practitioners. Most co-workers will accept a small cut in their hours to enable you to keep a friend and co-worker on staff.

Cut Communication Costs

If you’re paying for a bank of cell phones, unlimited long-distance and caller ID on a business telephone, you’re spending money you don’t have to. Why pay for caller ID on a business phone? You’re going to answer any way, right?

If you’re paying for unlimited long-distance, but your service area only covers 25 square miles, you’re paying more than you have to for telephone service – even if your wholesaler is  a couple of time zones to the west.

Today, with the use of email, you can conduct a lot of business digitally and cut the costs of your telephone bill. Oh, and get rid of the cell phone – especially if there’s always someone in the store! Why pay the extra $100 a month so you can call a tech when you can email her free?

Think and save.