This is the $50m question that every business owner asks themselves and some point during their life. There isn’t one definitive answer as each business/company is different; if there was we wouldn’t have witnessed so many companies going into administration during the last few years.
What there is though, are lots of smaller ways to save money, that over the course of a year for a small business will add up to substantial savings. A few of them are below:
- Do you really need a full hour for your lunch break? By only taking half an hour you can maximise your time working and earning money
- Do you really need 5,000 printed letterheads when you will probably only used 1,000 of them in the year? Yes the cost per unit is cheaper, but the hit on your cashflow is a lot harder
- Does doing your own accounts/bookkeeping really save you money? By employing a professional accountant/bookkeeper to do this for you it frees up your time to focus on your work, which is what you do best. The accountant/Bookkeeper may even be able to help save you some tax that you may have missed
- Is paying £40+ a month for a mobile phone contract worthwhile? If your phone bill would be less that £40 a month why not try a sim-only deal?
- Is it really necessary to drive over to see a client for a quick conversation which could be done over the internet via Skype? You’ll both still be able to see each other, but you will be able to save the cost and time wasted on a round trip
- Do you really need to be VAT registered? Many small companies register unnecessarily and in the long run it costs them money
These are just a few tips/ideas that may help you. As mentioned at the top of the post, each and every business is different and what works for one may not work for another. In these financially unstable times it pays for you to cut costs where you can.
