17 Ways to Cut Costs at Your Small Business

17 WAYS to CUT COSTS AT YOUR SMALL BUSINESS DO000 Small business owners are always conscious of their expenditure, monitoring where every pound is spent so that they can operate cost effectively and maximise profitability. This guide will provide you with 17 top tips on how you can keep your costs to a minimum. TIP 1 REDUCE ENERGY COSTS Although energy consumption is not necessarily at the forefront of a managers cost reduction strategy there are simple techniques that you can promote in the workplace to reduce energy and generate savings in utility bills. TOOLS ACTION The purchase of a smart temperature control can regulate temperatures so the room is only heated when it needs to be. Encourage employees to switch off computers and lights at the end of the day and install new energy efficient bulbs. TIP 2 ........... SAVE ON TRAVEL EXPENSES Checking a number of websites to get the best deals for travel and accommodation 2$ may take time but it can result in significant cost savings. You don't fly first class if you want to keep your expenditure for business travel expenses as low as possible. TOOLS ACTION Uber is a great tool for connecting individuals who need transport with taxi drivers. Reduce your petrol costs by ensuring that company cars are energy efficient and look for cheaper ways to travel such as the train or coach. TIP 3 -NEGOTIATE YOUR CURRENT CONTRACTS Small businesses require lots of to function. Basic stationery items like paper, envelopes and pens can cost a fortune with some suppliers. Simply shopping around and sourcing cheaper suppliers can save money. esources TOOLS ACTION Carry out thorough reviews of your suppliers using office management tools and finance packages to see how much you are spending. Negotiate with suppliers and check competitors to see if you can find a more cost effective deal. TIP 4 OUTSOURCE SOME TASKS Outsourcing is a great way to bring specialists on-board for certain tasks. Rather than employing a full time copywriter for example, you can outsource this work to a freelancer when you are updating your marketing material or website. TOOLS ACTION Use the available freelance websites to source freelancers with the skills that you need. If you find a great freelancer along the way you Freelance websites such as PeoplePerHour and Upwork are places where you can find curated talent across a number of disciplines from design through to administrative support. can continue to use them for future projects which will save you time and money in the long term. TIP 5 HAVE FEWER MEETINGS Meetings can be both resource and time intensive eating up valuable hours in your working day. Not only this, if you don't have meeting facilities at your place of work you may be spending a lot of money on hiring venues and offering hospitality, all of which can put a dent in your budget. TOOLS ACTION Reduce face to face meetings as much as possible; arrange face to face meetings twice monthly and then hold the other meetings in between using the collaborative technologies or free video calling and conferencing software. Software such as Go TOMeeting or Join.Me enables participants to share screens and documents. Free tools such as Skype are also helpful. TIP 6 WORK REMOTELY There is no doubt that office space costs money. With more and more businesses operating online, why not develop a virtual team? Not only will you save money on utility bills, you will also make significant cost savings on rent for your office space or building. TOOLS ACTION Installing collaborative technology software can facilitate day to day business operations. Project based software such as Basecamp or Go To Assist allow businesses to collaborate and set up schedules and to do lists for **.......* each member of the team. A central notice board or stream can be established so that all remote workers can log in and check progress. TIP 7 SWITCH TO CHEAPER SOFTWARE Some software options cost businesses thousands of pounds. There are many software tools which are very similar but much cheaper. TOOLS ACTION Web design software is very expensive, so is accounting software. Opt for cheaper versions provided that they offer the functionality that you need. Research available options for software for example make simple switches to desktop publishing software or accounting programs. TIP 8 UTILISE INTERNS Interns or apprentices can be excellent ways to support your business particularly during peak or busy periods. INTERN TOOLS ACTION Employ an intern or apprentice to carry out some of the more menial, time consuming tasks such as document checking, filing, processing and data input, freeing up time for your other more experienced staff to focus on other areas. Local training centres, colleges and universities may be an excellent place to begin. TIP 9 HIRE CAREFULLY Recruitment is an essential process for any business but select the wrong candidate and it could prove costly. Not only will you have to spend time and money training up a less skilled candidate but you may have to invest more time and resources in checking or correcting work. TOOLS ACTION Ensure that you have a strong screening process in place and create accurate There are a number of tools that can facilitate all 0000 2.0000 aspects of the recruitment process from candidate and CV screening right through to online assessments and job descriptions so that you only invite the most qualified and experienced candidates for interview. aptitude tests. ΤΙIP 1Θ RENT OUT UNEEDED SPACE If you currently own a building why not rent out spare floor space or desks to sole traders or freelancers who perhaps don't need a permanent office space? If this is not something that you have considered before, you may be unaware of the demand for good quality office or desk space. SPACE FOR RENT TOOLS ACTION The internet is a great resource for advertising your spare office space along with the local media. Rent out a small spaces like a spare desk in your office or if you have a large, expansive premises, you can rent out a whole unit or floor. This will RENT create an ideal environment for sole traders or small businesses. TIP 11 - USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS Project management tools can be a great way to save time and resources enabling teams to break the project down into smaller tasks which can facilitate the distribution of workloads. TOOLS ACTION There are numerous project Increase effectiveness with management tools including Trello, Capterra and Smart Sheet. time management, strengthen the planning and budgeting process with accurate project management monitoring tools. TIP 12 GO PAPERLESS Businesses spend a lot of money on paper and ink for printing documents so more and more businesses are making the transition to paperless offices. TOOLS ACTION Use the above pieces of software to scan and index documents into There are a number of tools that you can use to convert your paper documents into electronic versions or even your company database system. remove paper from the office completely. Scanners, digital note taking applications such as Evernote, Intellinote project software or Adobe Reader for digitally signing documents. ........ TIP 13 ......... BUY SECOND HAND EQUIPMENT & FURNITURE If you are hoping to fund your growing business, rather than purchasing new furniture seek out second hand desks, office chairs and other office furniture and equipment. TOOLS ACTION Before purchasing new Websites such as Desk Stop or Want Don't Want enable business owners to buy and sell furniture. furniture check out local auctions, trade magazines and use the internet to find suitable used furniture and equipment for a fraction of the price. TIP 14 SHARE SERVICES WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES Sharing services across businesses can result in substantial cost savings. For example, businesses can share senior management knowledge or IT teams which can facilitate operations. ACTION If you are a local business and have partnerships with others, seek advice as to whether there is the possibility of sharing services such as an IT department, HR or management function. ....... TI P 15 *** .************. GET ON THE CLOUD Cloud based software can enable businesses to save costs in relation to server maintenance, power, software licensing and the expense associated with upgrading servers and equipment. TOOLS ACTION Sales Force, Cloudability and Cloud Cruiser. Initiate the transition to cloud based software selecting the most appropriate tools for your business. TIP 16 REVIEW YOUR MARKETING SPEND Monitoring your finances is crucial and ensuring that your marketing expenditure is generating optimum return on investment is essential. TOOLS ACTION Encourage your marketing team to think about the costs Finance software such as QuickBooks can help you associated with different forms of marketing and where possible use free or see where your marketing budget is being invested. low cost methods. TIP 17 SWITCH TO VOIP Switching to VolP technology can bring a number of benefits for your business, reducing costs on long distance calls and roaming charges as well as making use of Wi-Fi rather than network minutes. TOOLS ACTION Where possible promote the use of VolP amongst the workforce and you could even allow employees to bring their own phones to work and work based calls can be made and Skype, Google Voice and Google Hangouts, OoVoo and Viber. received through the VolP network. 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