If you are a new business owner, it can be quite overwhelming to manage your finances, especially if you are on a tight budget. As a rookie in the field, you are always looking for ways to understand your role better. Researching good business practices, learning from industry standards, and following the market leaders in your field are all good, tried, and tested approaches to building your business up. But when it comes to saving money, there are several clever ways you can help keep your establishment in the black.
Automate Where You Can
There are always some tasks that seem so repetitive; you wish there were a quicker, more efficient way of doing them. If you have these kinds of tasks, see if you can automate them. Automation helps you save on work hours and prevent you from wasting your employees’ time. This saved time can then be redirected to more productive tasks, effectively cutting down costs in the long run.
Automation does not need to be daunting, though. Talk to your team and discuss what tasks seem repetitive, like data entry, and outsource the work to people who can create an Excel or Google Sheets document of the task/s.
Outsource!
Speaking of outsourcing, a good way to lower your overhead expenses is to only focus on a core team instead of over-hiring people. Decide which points are essential to your business, and allocate your sources towards it. This leaves you with more breathing space for one-off tasks that can be solved by outsourcing.
Especially for a new business, focus on your core business operations, and let other functions that are outside of it be outsourced. This way, instead of having to hire a permanent team, you can pay for specific services only when you need them. Functions like accounting, marketing, and administrative tasks can all be outsourced so you can save on overhead costs.
Market In Different Ways
Modern marketing practices include internet advertising, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Creating your online presence can start with a company page on social media platforms before moving on to buying your personalized domain.
Another more old-school way to promote your business is through good public relations practice. As a business owner, you want to connect not only to your customers or clients; you also want to create good relationships with other businesses for existing and future partnerships.
Consider Remote Work
Many companies have now vacated their once-bustling offices and have opted for the more efficient alternative of remote working. Especially now that many businesses have adapted to a work-from-home setup, if you don’t have to work in an office, then consider remote work as a more permanent working solution.
Of course, as social beings, we still yearn for person-to-person interactions, and Zoom fatigue can cut productivity if not addressed immediately. A more cost-efficient way is to rent shared office space only when you need to. Shared office spaces offer short commitment packages at affordable rates, so it’s worth looking into.
Go Green
Think about your stationery supplies and usage. If you have tons of paper waste, you might want to think about cutting the usage in half or getting rid of it altogether. Stationery supplies can account for quite a chunk of your budget, so looking into ways for you to lessen this type of expense can have a positive effect on your books. One way to do this is to take advantage of digitalization- tablets are essentially unlimited writing utensils, and they’re cheaper in the long run too.
Also, think about energy saving by making sure to turn off and unplug equipment when not in use. Electricity bills can spike up in the summer and winter, so make sure to regulate your usage well. There are great creative ways to go green, which helps you cut down on costs and help build your company image to clients who are also environmentally conscious.
Buy Used Instead of Brand New
Offices make use of a lot of expensive office equipment. There are desks, office tables, filing cabinets, and other equipment that make working in an office more efficient. They also go with a premium on price, digging into a business’ budget.
One way to go about this is to buy used office equipment. They often go for marked-down prices, especially ones from companies that closed down or shifted to a work-from-home format. Second-hand office equipment is usually still very reliable, reducing the need to buy brand new products.
