Ways a small business can lower costs? Business owners want to make money, but far too many spend money unnecessarily. In fact, according to Business Insider, 82% of all businesses fail because of cash flow problems.. The easiest way you can reduce business costs is by recognizing the necessary from the unnecessary. If you’re paying thousands to a social media expert but have the highest and most positive social media presence then that’s a market differentiator. However, if you’re paying tons to an automated service line then you’re looking at a place to start when cutting costs.
For business credit cards and lines of credit, ask your financial firm if you can have a reduction in the interest rate. As years of on-time payments to these vendors pass, your credit will improve, and you should be able to receive lower interest rates. If your current vendor cannot reduce your rate, consider looking at alternate funders to see what current rates they offer and if they offer any specials.
Recurring monthly charges for software, marketing tools and other subscription services are often overlooked expenses. Perform an audit of all the tools currently in use to determine which ones are necessary to the business. Inventory the list and set reminders before the recurring charges hit. Tools like trackmysubs.com can help identify potential savings. – Judi Hays, Judi Hays, Inc. Gone are the days when you “make the tough decisions” to cut costs alone. Today, the world is too complex and fast to do that and still be able to make the right decisions. If you’ve invested in a strong company culture built upon trust, the counterintuitive key action will be to ask your teams how they think the company can cut costs without cutting staff. You’ll be happily surprised. – James Key Lim, FUTUREPROOFx LLC
Cloud computing is very popular, and it isn’t hard to see why. This fairly new technology can be used in various ways; for instance, you could host a virtual phone system from your house as a customer service line. This means you can provide your clients and customers with a reliable, affordable form of customer service – even if you don’t have an office or any employees. Discretionary expenses are costs that you want but don’t need. For instance, you may be spending money on weekly snacks for the office, or you may want to buy a water cooler. We suggest holding off on discretionary expenses if you want to save money; after all, you can always buy these items later, when your business is booming! See more information on Reduce business costs.
A great idea to help save money for your small business is to rent a shared space instead of a separate office. It’s no doubt that every business in its embryonic stage will be small in size; meaning fewer staff members are required. Therefore, there isn’t a need to rent a large office. You can easily find a vacancy in a lot of shared workplaces as they are quite common these days. This will help you save money on the rent since the rent will be divided between your business and the other business renting the same shared space.