Creative Ways to Cut Costs

From our July 2011 Creating Confidence Newsletter.

1. 1. Go paperless

Choosing email over mail, and electronic file storage over printing, can save you money on paper, ink, postage and more. There are free online project management tools that can help you organize your documents and share them with your team members, making your business more efficient.

2. 2. Pay bills on the due date

When you pay late you incur fees, but when you pay early you’ve unnecessarily limited your cash flow. Pay on time, every time, and maximize cash.

3. 3. Tackle your receivables

Identify your slow-paying customers and get proactive. Offer an incentive to those who pay quickly. If you accept credit cards, you should shop around for the best price on payment processing. And send out invoices as soon as the product has been delivered or the service completed. Why wait?

4. 4. Hire a student instead

College students will work for less, or just for course credit, and you can hire them on a short-term or as-needed basis. Set one to work and you might just be getting a bargain.

5. 5. Review your insurance coverage

Are you still paying to insure assets that have been sold? Are you over-insuring on the ones you still have? How much might you save by increasing your deductibles?

6. 6. Don’t make seminars a group event

Instead of having several people attend a seminar, save money by designating one person to go, and then report back to the team on what they learned.

7. 7. Program your thermostat

You may have heard this before (thanks Grace!) but it works just as well in the office as it does at home. And while you’re at it, make sure everything is turned off when no one’s in the office.

8. 8. Make your advertising expense go further

Whatever your chosen method of advertising, make sure you include a coupon, special code or offer and encourage people to use it. That way you will know which marketing strategies are the most effective, and you can eliminate the ones that aren’t.

9. 9. Make the most of your office space

Consider cutting back on non-essentials and moving into a smaller office space. And if that isn’t feasible, you can rent out that extra desk to a local entrepreneur for some extra cash.

10. 10. Design and print your own business cards

Save money and make a statement. This would be a good project for that new intern.

11. 11. Compare profit margins

Calculate the gross profit for each product or service you sell. Then focus on the ones with the lowest margin and consider discontinuing them, allowing you to focus your efforts on your more profitable segments.

12. 12. Assess your inventory

Do you have old or obsolete inventory? See if it can be sold, or even re-worked into something useful.

For continuing assistance with cutting costs and growing your business, consult your Wealth Advocate at Mackey Advisors.

by: Laura Pratt