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Money Saving Tips for Your Business


10th December, 2009

Money Saving Tips for Your Business

Whether you're optimistically thriving or barely surviving, the recession has unarguably made businesses more conscious of money. No more frivolous lending, spending, cashing or flashing. When you're surrounded by fallible economies, national inversions, caps, closures, consolidation and a credit clot, there's not much else to do but aphoristically subscribe to belt-tightening, penny-pinching thriftiness and restraint.

But displaced prudence may prove as equally ineffective as doing nothing at all. In fact, it could be counterproductive: cutting costs sluggishly, maintaining the same product-service mix, reducing your marketing, and focusing less on the actual market are all things that seem pragmatic, but should be avoided.

Here are some simple steps to ensure you're saving money the right way; recession or no recession:

Cut Bills & Go Green

Energy-efficient technology and simple practices will help reduce your bills and help the environment too. The tax implications of ecological thinking will also be invitingly felt.

It may sound silly, patronising even, but we're all guilty of it: leaving electrics on unnecessarily. Switching off lights, computers and other electronic devices can save up to half on energy consumption – and lighten your bills.

Switching energy providers could also prove effective.

Cheaper Marketing & Promotion

Whatever you do, don't stop marketing! Just think of innovative, or even less modern, ways of implementing it. To use a lazy truism, word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising, but the hardest to control. But use your associates for referrals and references; link to each other's websites at the very least. Also, create a buzz, run an extravagant promotion, call the local press. Do what it takes to get the word out.

Creating an e-newsletter is an often underrated way of communicating with your customers. It's advertising directly to them; cheaply.

Use YouTube, or video hosting sites that deal exclusively with business, such as Startup TV. As words are slowly supplanted by moving pictures, there's never been a better time to start using online video, communicating to unrestricted audiences worldwide.

Other ways of getting your philosophy to the market are by guest speaking and at business exhibitions, and blogging. More actively, why not become a campaigner: if you disagree with a governmental policy, speak out! Your business will follow your voice.

Credit Control

A quarter of all insolvency is caused by late payments. That's a face-slapping statistic. It can be combated easily, however, through simple, unequivocal credit control practices.

Firstly, make your payment terms clear to your clients and customers. Concur all terms as soon as orders and placed,and document all agreements with invoices, etc, outlining credit periods and interest to be charged on late payment. Make sure you invoice in good time too.

Credit check your customers, investigate their references and credentials.

Financial Fitness

Ensure all bookkeeping is in place and correct. This should always be done at the earliest possible stage, but it's never too late to adopt good practices. Don't procrastinate with paperwork, because you run the risk of forgetting essential costs, or at worse, failing to invoice.

Keep an eye on your VAT and make precise returns. Make a forecast, anticipate all costs, turn unpredictability into inevitability. And do your banking online, it saves both time and money.

Most importantly, perhaps, is a weekly housekeeping of unnecessary expenses. This will very much add up to a dreaded, stark reality, and you may find you can scrap this spending altogether.

If you have office space, then sublet it. And start hiring graduates or people seeking work experience, they'll work hard for little money... or often for free.

Tighten Technology

If you don't have a big budget, or even if you do, smaller internet service providers (ISP) are competitive, and you could be paying far more than your business requires.

If you haven't already, look into VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Essentially a phone service that employs the internet, it is a much cheaper alternative to the traditional phone-line, and has been known to save 60% on telecommunication bills.

Without wanting to cause mass mutiny against merchant accounts, many businesses are now seeing the viability of switching to online payment services, such as Paypal, who eliminate monthly service or statement fees. Just make sure it's worth swapping before you do.

 

 

 

 



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