Save Money In Your Small Business

Are you currently running your own business or thinking about starting your own small enterprise? In today’s tough economic climate it can be very difficult to survive and it has never been more important to look at your expenditure and find ways to save money. Whether you are just starting out or running a long-established business, cutting unnecessary costs is vital if you are to survive. The most important thing, though, is to be able to identify the right kinds of savings. Ruthless cost-cutting applied to the wrong areas of your business could have a disastrous impact.

Large and Small Costs

Since you are looking at ways to cut costs, you must examine everything. Perhaps your wage bill is simply too high or some members of staff are not productive enough. Employees are often the most important asset you have so you should think carefully before letting anyone go and make sure you are doing so for the right reasons.

Investigate all of your costs, however small they may seem. You may have a photocopier that costs hundreds of pounds per year to lease. Think about purchasing one, which would mean that you only have to pay maintenance costs each year. Small things such as this soon add up and can significantly affect your bottom line.

Phones and IT

Do you have an expensive landline telephone service in your office? Now that smartphones are relatively cheap to buy and run you might find that providing your employees with them makes your office telephones superfluous. You will obviously need to retain a basic system but you could save a lot of money in this way.

You should also look at your IT requirements. Many companies have migrated all or most of their infrastructure to the cloud. Using the services of cloud-computing companies means that you do not have to buy and maintain expensive in-house servers, which could also result in significant long-term savings. You could also expand your cloud onto a public server or opt instead for a multi cloud networking system if you are looking for an even more cost-efficient cloud solution. 

Accountants

A good accountant can really help you to keep track of your financial situation. They will not only make sure that you are not paying too much tax, but also identify other costs which could be cut without having a negative effect on your business. If you run an engineering company, for example, using the services of a good firm that provides accounting for engineers could prove to be invaluable.

Check Outgoings Regularly

You may think that you have your costs under control but it’s a good idea to take a look at them every few months. This is especially true if you are no longer personally overseeing the finances of your company. It can be a shock to discover that the supplier you have used for years has suddenly increased their prices by 25% and you have been paying this for the last six months.

Have a think about areas of your business where you may be paying too much, such as your internet connection. Shop around regularly for the best deal. You should also do this every year for your insurance policies. The cost of insurance can creep up every year and providers often rely on their customers not noticing this. Use a price-comparison site to compare policies and move to another provider if you find a better deal.