Running a small business is an expensive endeavour, with a number of different business costs to deal with each month.
These expenses that you incur rarely leave much leftover in the bank, making growth and financial preparation increasingly difficult.
To make it possible, you need to take a look at your finances and find ways to reduce or eliminate the costs you face.
With that in mind, here are nine creative ways you can save money running your small business.
Keep Your Bridges Intact
In college, there’s always at least one professor who you like and acts like a mentor towards you. When you leave education, it’s important that you nurture these relationships and keep bridges intact.
Make an effort to catch up now and then and never say or do anything that might cause offence. This way, you always have someone to ask for free advice or interns when needed.
Cut Back On Supplies
Every business needs pens, paper, and other office supplies, so most entrepreneurs go ahead and order them in bulk in hopes that this will get them a discount.
Unfortunately, this won’t always work. What’s worse is that many of the supplies you have stored away will likely be stolen, lost, or forgotten about. For this reason, you should consider ordering smaller quantities more often.
Always Travel In Style
Travelling to meetings across the country can waste a lot of time, which will inevitably cost you money. To combat this, you should take a look at the top 10 UK aviation courses and consider getting a pilot’s license.
Most business owners find that flying themselves to these meetings or to other company locations can hugely reduce travel times, giving you more time to focus on work.
Take Advantage Of Technology
There is a lot of work in business that needs to be done by a real-life person. Thankfully, there is just as much, if not more, that can be done by or with the help of technology.
Instead of hiring permanent staff to handle every task, you should find software to automate certain processes, like ordering supplies and posting on social media. This saves time and reduces the overheads.
Manage Your Own Marketing
Hiring an agency to handle your marketing comes with its benefits, but it can also be fairly costly. With that in mind, you should consider keeping some of the easier activities in-house, especially those that can be made easier by tech.
These include social media management and email marketing. You could even enrol in a marketing course to improve your skills and knowledge.
Share An Office Space
The cost of renting or buying an office space can take up a large chunk of your monthly budget. This is why so many business owners choose to work from home and have their employees telecommute each day.
If you need an office space, but don’t necessarily require a private one, then you could share with other businesses by renting a workstation in a coworking space.
Partner With Similar Companies
Partnering up with other small businesses near or similar to you can massively cut your business costs, depending on the ways you choose to collaborate.
Even exchanging industry knowledge can save time and money, while also reducing the chances of costly mistakes being made. You could also share your marketing efforts and offer referrals to each other’s customers.
Limit Your Meeting Times
Business meetings are a great way to communicate with your entire team, share ideas, offer insights, track progress, and set goals. Unfortunately, they’re also the perfect opportunity to waste lots of time.
Meetings are incredibly costly in terms of salaries, so you should try to keep them to a minimum. Emailing or direct messaging your employees may be a quicker option.
Remember Everything Is Negotiable
Just because a service or supply is advertised at a certain price, it doesn’t mean that you always need to pay this cost. In fact, more often than not, you can haggle and negotiate the price down, making huge savings each year.
This is made a lot easier when you have good relationships with vendors. You could also try bartering your products or service for those you need from suppliers.
Running a business will never be a cheap task, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be made cheaper. All it really takes is a little extra work, careful planning, and creative thinking, and you can make major savings every single year, freeing up cash for growth and emergencies.
If you’re struggling to save your business money, consider the creative ideas listed above.
