Cost Management

As the cost of living continues to rise, it comes as no surprise that many are more price-conscious than ever. To lend a hand in guiding you through what is potentially a testing time, we outline our top five ways to help control cash flow in your care home.

1

Recognise the challenges

With various demands pulling at the purse strings, particularly the current cost of living crisis we are up against, it’s important to gain a clear view of what kind of things could be affected. The pandemic brought a plethora of new challenges, including staff sickness, which has led to a staffing crisis. With agency workers being paid up to 40 percent more than a permanently employed staff member, this can create difficulties but, by firmly outlining challenges and effective solutions and then sharing them with the wider team, it’s the most beneficial way to get ahead of the curve.

2

Eliminate food waste

As care homes look to tighten budgets, the thought of food waste is enough to make us quiver. Not only is the waste highly unsustainable, but it is also costing your business money. Ways in which you can help eradicate or lessen such waste is by thinking carefully about portion sizes – get to know which residents eat more and those who don’t. Keeping an accurate inventory so you don’t double up and miss use-by dates is a great place to start, alongside saving leftover ingredients to introduce unconventional but tasty additions to the menu.

4 3

Budget clearly

Regularly outlining monthly and yearly outgoings is imperative to any business. By keeping these notes in a clear and concise form, you will help further down the line when and if you do need to cut back in particular areas. Using software such as Excel or Budgyt makes things easy for the entirety of the team and can massively help with annual financial reports.

Introduce technology

Although there can be reluctance around learning how to operate and introduce technology, it can offer a timely, efficient and useful way to work. Moving away from traditional processes that you may be used to, and embracing the utilisation of a piece of technology can go hand in hand with the potential staffing problems you may face. It’s important to remember that in an ever-changing world, it’s essential to keep up with trends to ensure you’re always appealing to new residents.

5

Negotiate with providers

More than ever, now is the time to have those uncomfortable conversations. Negotiating the best deal for gas and electricity is critical to remaining a sustainable business. If you’ve been with the same provider for a number of years, it may seem that the easiest option is to stick with them. However, if you can get it cheaper elsewhere, be prepared to negotiate with the existing supplier and if they don’t budge, it may be time to jump ship. In this difficult climate it’s important to make hard decisions if they are going to have positive impacts long-term.