Are you looking for strategies to save costs in your small business that actually work?
In this two-part series on reducing your business costs, we’ll present a compilation of money-saving and cost-cutting strategies and suggestions.
If you’ve had a tough year and you’re struggling to stay afloat, you may be starting to turn your attention to identifying ways you can reduce your costs. Alternatively, perhaps your business is doing well, but you want to increase your profitability by reducing your expenses.
This guide to cutting business costs contains a wealth of ideas, some of which are bound to be ideal for your needs. Before we start everyone has a business insurance policy, comparing quotes online could save you a lot of money.
-
Substitute low-cost alternatives for traditional advertising.
This is a common trend for small businesses, and owing to the numerous alternatives available in online marketing and promotion, it is easy to reduce conventional advertising expenses while still reaching clients. For instance, public relations can be significantly cheaper and more effective than some of the more traditional forms of advertising.
Another means of reducing the cost of acquiring customers is to shun paid advertising and opt for a more organic alternative. Optimizing your local search presence, publishing meaningful videos and articles, and honing your SEO to ensure your website appears at the top of the search rankings can all help to bring customers to your door at the lowest possible price.
-
Obtain event sponsors
Hosting regular events, such as galas and seminars, can help to position your business as an expert in its niche while also attracting new and existing customers. They have been proven time and time again to help businesses grow their customer base. However, they can be expensive to organize and host. One way to overcome this is to connect with other businesses to secure their sponsorship for an event. If the small business hosting the event and the sponsor paying for expenditures are in comparable fields, it’s typically a solid deal.
-
Outsource tasks to freelancers
Employees are necessary for completing tasks, but personnel costs—from salary to office space to insurance—can consume the majority of a small business’s budget. More and more small businesses are opting to reduce their full-time workforce to the minimum and outsources work to independent contractors for the tasks that their full-time employees are unable to do on a timely basis.
Another alternative is to hire consultants on an ad-hoc basis. In addition to being able to negotiate a lower rate with consultants, you can also benefit from their more diverse experience in their respective fields of expertise.
-
Work out a deal with vendors
What you’ve been paying your suppliers in the past doesn’t have to be the last word on how much you’ll pay them in the future. Vendors need to succeed in business just as much as you do. They, too, are probably struggling to survive if the economy is difficult. Many companies will be prepared to negotiate lower costs as opposed to losing a loyal customer. Review your regular expenses and look for opportunities to renegotiate. You won’t lose anything by trying, and you might be able to save hundreds of dollars on your monthly running costs.
-
Don’t stop at the cash register
Don’t consign yourself that you won’t be able to have the items you need when your cash supply runs out, as it often does with small firms. Use the age-old method of bartering to trade the things you have for the things you may need. The worst answer you can receive, just like with vendor negotiations, is a straightforward no, and you might be shocked at how soon you hear a yes.
-
Get to grips with the cloud
In the era of rapid broadband and universal Internet access, the cloud is your friend. One way you can minimize the cost of pricey hardware is by hosting data and connecting software on cloud-based services. For instance, software such as Salesforce and Microsoft 360 can be accessed for a low monthly payment. This is significantly cheaper than laying out high costs up front.
-
Cut unnecessary employee expenditures rather than workers
In some cases, if you are really struggling, you may have to reassess the benefits you offer your employees. Things like staff lunches, free merchandise, discounts at a local store, etc., are all great when the sun is shining. However, if you’re facing a cash flow issue, they should be the first to go. It is better to retain staff on less benefits than lay them off.
-
Make telecommuting a habit
Telecommuting isn’t an option for all organizations or workers, but when it is, it may save a lot of money. Keeping things virtual helps small firms avoid the expenditures of office space and the continuing operational costs that come with it, allowing them to concentrate on delivering value with the least amount of overhead. Find a means to convert at least part of your employees to a telecommuting position if you can’t make your entire workforce virtual.
-
Save the environment by going green
In addition to being a great PR move, going green can also be a wise business decision. Horowitz suggests making simple changes like putting equipment on a power strip and shutting it off when not in use, or replacing your current printer with one that prints on both sides of the paper, saving waste and expense. Because the goal of many environmentally friendly modifications is to conserve energy, and you are responsible for the energy your business consumes, reducing your energy use will lower your expenditures.
-
Try hiring employees at the lower end of the ladder
Experience isn’t everything, and it comes with a higher price tag. Remove the sentence that states “Must have X years of experience” from your next job ad and replace it with “Recent grads invited to apply.” This strategy can help you to find low-cost talent while also benefiting from the opportunity to tap into resources that have up-to-date knowledge and experience.
Small Business Money Saving Tips and Ideas: Part Two
Are you seeking cost-cutting solutions that genuinely work for small businesses?
In this two-part series, we share a collection of money-saving and cost-cutting techniques and tips on lowering your company costs.
If you’ve had a difficult year and are fighting to remain afloat, you might be looking for methods to cut expenditures. Alternatively, it could be that your company is performing well, but you’d like to improve profits by cutting costs.
Also Read: is kissanime illegal
This cost-cutting guide provides a plethora of suggestions, some of which will undoubtedly help you save some cash.
1) Make your donation policy clear
Rather than eliminating all charity donations, take 20 minutes to draft a policy that spells out your processes and boundaries. This is especially useful if you run a food-related firm that is frequently bombarded with demands for “food gifts” for fund-raising activities, or if your company sells things that charity groups require.
- Renegotiate leases with your landlord every time the opportunity presents itself
Whenever possible, renegotiate any leases to save money. In the weeks before any leases you have up for renewal are due, take a look around at what else is on offer on the market and for what fees. Your rental costs are likely among the most significant expenditures you confront. If you need premium retail space for your business, start looking for a better bargain and eliminate that budget-buster.
- Reduce the amount of time employees spend on the job
Depending on which industry you operate in, you may be able to consider switching to a four-day week. This can bring benefits to both the workforce and the employer. A four-day work week offers higher utility and operational cost reductions, as well as reduced wage expenditures for the company as a whole.
4) Keep meetings short and sweet
In terms of travel and hosting costs, on-site meetings may be costly, and even virtual meetings can be pricy in terms of billable hours or wage expenditures. You’re losing money if your staff are waiting in meetings instead of doing work or acquiring new clients. You can’t completely avoid meetings, but you can minimize them. First and foremost, minimize the number of persons who are obliged to attend meetings. Reducing the headcount to the lowest feasible level maximizes the time other employees are working on revenue-generating tasks.
5) Save money on shipping
Don’t just pay the first price you are quoted for shipping and distribution. Continually check and compare shipping charges, try to negotiate better conditions, and make sure they save every penny they can. Saving small amounts of money here and there can add up to a much more significant amount.
6) Reduce the amount of maintenance required
Is it really necessary to hire a cleaning service for your workplace on a daily basis? Take a look at your ongoing maintenance expenditures and consider how you can potentially streamline them. For instance, instead of everyday cleaning, a cleaning service might come in once a week. You can save money by minimizing the frequency of maintenance charges without fully eliminating maintenance or essential repair items.
7) Employ interns
Consider utilizing the services of marketing interns from local schools to help create your company’s social media campaign. They will gain some valuable experience performing marketing for an established business while you’ll save money on agency fees or full-time employees. Interns save money on everything from pay to perks to office space as compared to full-time staff. You can get a lot of work done for a fraction of the expense if you combine this method with telecommuting.
8) Examine all your costs, including the minor ones
Regularly reviewing your business expenses makes good business sense, yet this important task is often disregarded until times of crisis. Small reductions in recurrent expenditures can add up to significant savings over time. Examine everything that isn’t generating a return on investment, pare it down to the basic essentials, and get rid of anything unnecessary.
9) Purchase in bulk
To save money on both the product and delivery costs, look for the best rates on office supplies like printer cartridges and ordering from bulk warehouses or online vendors. Analyze your ongoing spending and identify the ones the items are bought at random or through middlemen. Look into bulk purchasing to see if you can save money on those things that you use frequently.
10) Make use of free and open-source software
Every organization need software at some level, from the most basic to the most complicated. Check out the free open-source alternatives before you spend hundreds of dollars on software purchases or updates. Some companies have even built entire web solutions using open-source software, including photo editing, invoicing, accounting, project management, and document production.
11) Use traditional marketing techniques
The simple, old-fashioned habit of sending a handwritten thank you card to consumers can generate a significant return. As such, it’s worth trying for the cost of a stamp.
12) Form marketing collaborations
To decrease expenses and broaden the reach of promotional activities, consider forming relationships with other firms. As opposed to engaging in more traditional marketing practices, like radio ads and print, consider forming strategic connections with companies that are relevant to your niche. For instance, if you sell bridalwear, you could partner with a wedding photographer to promote one another’s services.
13) Make your distribution procedure easier
Examine your distribution process to see if there are any steps that may be simplified or eliminated. To keep your firm going ahead at a healthy pace, focus your business and employees on their strengths and establish appropriate agreements.
14) Get to know your clients
If you know your clients well enough to know where they go online, you can concentrate your online marketing efforts there rather than spreading your resources across a wide range of possibilities.
You can remove all other possibilities from your budget if you know what your clients enjoy, how they respond, what they want, and how much they’ll pay. By removing ineffective alternatives, the money you do spend will be more concentrated and generate a better reaction, so you’ll not only save money in the short term, but you’ll also generate more profit from what you do put out.
15) Recognize and reward your profit-makers
It may sound a little counterintuitive, but spending to save does make sense in some instances. Tiny gestures, like an occasional free lunch or goodie, can raise employee morale and keep the work atmosphere happy.
You may also wish to consider paying bonuses to staff who reach particular benchmarks for sales or output, and delivering deeper discounts or value-added packages to your most loyal clients. If you’re spending a little money on the individuals who perform the finest job for you, or purchase the most merchandise from you, you’re investing in a connection that will ultimately bring greater profit to your firm.
