As a business, you’re always looking for ways to become more efficient and improve your offerings. So, what are some of the key areas where you can cut down costs without impacting the service you offer your clients?
Here are four cost effective changes you can make to your business.
Utilities
Businesses spend huge amounts on their utilities such as water, gas, and electricity and they tend not to get any cheaper over the years. Renewing business utilities is quite different to household utilities, and it can be very complex.
However, as Chris Shaw, CEO of Utility Bidder says, “paying over the odds for your commercial energy can be a significant drain on your company’s resources.”
Many businesses are tied into contracts that automatically renew at the end of the agreed period, and because of the perceived complexity of business energy, many companies don’t look around to see if they might be able to get a better rate. Switching providers isn’t as complicated as it might seem though, and there are big savings to be made.
Advertising and Marketing
There are many different ways to invest your advertising and marketing dollars, and different companies will find different methods work for them. However, if you’re investing huge amounts of your budget into traditional advertising such TV commercials, you might benefit from diversifying.
For a local TV ad, businesses are likely to pay between $5 and $34 per 1,000 views, with costs on national ads soaring. This might be an effective form of advertising for your company, but there are also lots of other methods out there that could significantly reduce your spend while also offering similar results.
Social media marketing (Facebook averages out at around $7 per 1,000 impressions), and content marketing are other great ways to spend your budget, and you might find you get more bang for your buck.
Software
Sometimes you’ve got to spend money to save money and giving your employees the right tools to work with is one of these times. Software has improved a great deal with technology, but many businesses use outdated software that limits their employees’ efficiency.
On an individual basis, the right software might save an employee a few minutes a day, but when you add that up over a year, then the difference can be huge. Getting the latest software might be an investment, but it’s one that will soon earn you the money back.
Office Space
Rental costs are another area that can take up a big chunk of a business’s money, but again there are plenty of savings to be had here. Having a fixed office space has been standard business practice for a long time, but for many companies, it’s no longer a necessity.
Even if it is a necessity for your business, do you need those high-end offices, or can you save a big chunk of money by opting for a slightly less luxurious base? If your business has less and less office-based employees, then why not downsize and reduce your costs?
Featured Image
