Each year as 1 January rolls around, New Year’s resolutions are top of mind as we prepare to farewell bad habits and put our best foot forward for the year ahead. But in all the excitement of ushering in a new year, and a new you, we often don’t apply the same focus to our work lives.
To help you get ahead in 2020, we’ve compiled our top tips of cost reduction measures for small businesses.
1. Save the planet while saving cash
When it comes to paying the office utilities, you’d be surprised to see how little things left unchecked, can add up to one big bill. To get started and saving, implement easy energy-saving strategies around the office to save electricity. Turn off appliances if they are on standby mode or modify appliances and fixtures in your office to energy-saving alternatives, this can be as simple as changing the types of lightbulbs you use. Another commodity worth saving is water. Fix any leaky faucets to save water – and money – going down the drain.
2. Outsource and save
Employed staff need salaries, space to work, superannuation, and insurance. While having a large team of staff is helpful for busy periods, it’s also a huge expense. You will save yourself a great amount of money only keeping the minimum number of full-time staff (the essentials) and employ contractors required to take on routine tasks. Other tasks which are a bit more casual in nature can be outsourced. Try sites like AirTasker to find skilled workers for an affordable rate.
3. Shop around and negotiate with your vendors
If you’ve been doing business the same way for a long time, you may feel less inclined to change things. Using the same suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and so on, might mean missing out on better deals. Shop around for a better price and don’t be afraid to call up your vendors and ask for a discounted price for years of loyalty.
4. Try telecommuting
To take it a step further, you could try telecommuting, or in other words, working from home. While it sounds too good to be true. telecommuting is an increasingly popular business strategy, especially for cost reduction. Telecommuting can improve productivity (with fewer distractions at home), reduce time and money spent commuting on roads (which also reduces our carbon footprint), and help employees establish a work-life balance.
5. Implement time management strategies
As the saying goes, time is money. To help ensure you and your team are working efficiently, we recommend the use of apps and software for time and project management. There are lots to chose from, we love Toggl to track time spent on tasks and Basecamp to help with project management. Ultimately, streamlining business tasks helps an office run more productively, maximising every hour of the working day and every dollar spent.
Sandie Menzies, Director, Shoebox Books
