Cash flow is important to any business, the more money you have the more flexible you can be. As with your own money, it’s always important to make sure you are not overspending and regularly running reports to see what is being spent. Below are five tips to help save money as a business.
Part-Time Employees
Do you need all your staff to work full time for you? Have you done a cost analysis to see how much a staff member brings in and if it’s worth having them full time? Your default could be to hire staff full time without thinking about part-time employment as a business owner. Sometimes, the better option is to employ part-time as this will save money and indicate whether you need someone full time or not in that position.
Outsource Your Work
Sometimes it’s cheaper and more cost-effective to outsource the running of your business instead of having it in house. Have you thought about using an accountant instead of employing one, maybe a freelancer to help with your marketing instead of a team, or outsourcing your IT (you can find out more details here). By outsourcing part of your business, you won’t need to employ people full time. Instead, you will call on them when you need them, helping save money.
Review Your Employee Expenses
The bigger you get, the more of an issue expenses can be. By treating clients to meals, traveling to meetings, or purchasing equipment, it all adds up and can cost a business a lot of money. Ensure you are regularly reviewing what employees are expensing and try to justify them instead of continually allowing employees (or yourself) to put them through. Instead of traveling to meetings, you could look at doing a video call to save money.
Cut Down on Maintenance
Do you have a cleaner that comes in every day? Do you pay to have your windows cleaned regularly? The maintenance of a building is necessary, but sometimes, it’s over serviced, costing you a lot of money. Make sure you regularly review what services you are paying for and if you really need them. It may be that your cleaner comes in twice a week instead of five days, or you try to go paperless as your printing bill is high. All these costs can have an impact on how the business performs and could be better spent elsewhere.
Is Your Marketing Spend Getting a Return?
Marketing your business is key to being successful. But if done wrong, it can cost a lot of money with little return. Make sure you are tracking your marketing campaigns and that they are bringing in a return. If not, ask yourself why and make some changes. Once your campaign works, focus your budget on improving the campaign instead of starting another. Always run a performance review on each campaign you do and, if you can, see what return of investment it brings. Without doing this, you may just be spending out a lot of money on nothing. Have you thought about adding storytelling to your marketing campaigns?
