OOPS!!Many of us are bootstrapping our businesses, and we want to get the most value out of every dollar we spend. But the low-cost solution can sometimes cost your business big time.

Carol tackles this topic in her latest post on entrepreneur.com, “3 Examples of When Being Cheap Is Costly for Your Business.” She begins:

“I am a max-for-the-minimum, champagne on a beer budget kind of girl. I love to get a good deal, especially when running my business. However, while entrepreneurs know that every penny counts when running your own business, sometimes your efforts to save money can backfire, costing you more in the long run. 

Here are just a few of the places where you should not cheap-out in your business.

1. Lawyers.

Just because your uncle Ira is a lawyer doesn’t mean he’s the right lawyer for your business. If he’s not experienced in contract law, he may defer to off-the-shelf contracts rather than create ones that protect your company’s unique interests. If he does not regularly handle business disputes, you could end up in court when you could get better results at the negotiation table. If he’s not familiar with technology development contracts, what you thought was your proprietary software could be used by a competitor.

In other words, Ira’s discounted fee of $100 means little if you end up paying $1,000 to clean up your legal issues later.”

You can read the rest of the post here.