Cut your Small Business Costs with These Easy Tips

You might call it your dream, your baby, your reason in life, but if your small business suffers from cash flow or budgetary issues, you may end up calling it something else entirely: your albatross.

The whirlwind pace of managing a small business can sometimes make it difficult to keep each and every detail in mind, including overhead. For example, while we focus on customer acquisition, some of our money may be sneaking out the back door disguised as the simple cost of doing business.

Cultivating a smart budget is a deceptively simple way to strengthen your bottom line. But if you’ve been over the books and just can’t see a way forward, it may be time to try something new, something more or less obvious.

Leadingham Rodgers certified public accountants specialize in catching runaway costs. To clip your budget, try one of these simple tips.

Eliminate paper

When considering monthly expenditures, it’s easy to focus on utilities. But in addition to power, water, and the rent, your monthly order of office supplies may be weighing you down unnecessarily. 

Paper and printing supplies cost a fortune and aren’t entirely obligatory when conducting 21st century business. Maximize what little you may need to print by reducing font, printing double-sided, and gradually eliminating interoffice communication by analog means in favor of secure digital messaging. There are several enterprise communications platforms, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, that you can use for free.

Get your head in the cloud

While paper and file cabinets have long gone the way of the dinosaur, traditional data centers are just now teething on the brink of a similar extinction.

Paying for in office storage hardware can cost your business nearly 3 times what that same data costs to store in the cloud. Better yet, cloud storage is billed as needed so you don’t end up paying more than you absolutely need to.

Encourage Remote Work

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that a dedicated workforce can be maintained outside of the traditional office setting. By encouraging remote work for some employees, you can save on office square footage, a host of utility bills, and perhaps even rent itself. 

Remote work has been the victim of undue stigmas for too long. Modern employees can be just as capable and diligent at home as they are at their desks.

Use your voice

Far from the cutthroat culture big businesses are typically accused of, your small business runs on reliable and long standing relationships. To certain vendors and service providers, your continued business means more than putting their foot down about the usual fee.

If you have strong ties with a certain provider, simply inquire about a potential discount. You’d be surprised how the mere act of asking inspires generosity on their part.

Consider interns and freelancers

Admittedly, not every aspect of your business can be outsourced. But if there’s one upside to the so-called “gig economy” it’s that someone somewhere is willing to handle some aspect of your business regularly and at a reduced rate.

Freelancers and interns are reliable alternatives to the overworked executive assistant or belabored, catch-all employee. If you can take enough work off a salaried employee’s plate, you might save money on turnover and increase productivity for more vital tasks.

Don’t overlook social media

These days, it can be hard for modern businesses to decide on an appropriate marketing strategy. Traditional methods like paid advertisements, commercials, and billboards may seem easier to comprehend, but the fact is just the opposite: social media metrics can track with increasing precision your marketing strategy’s performance. If you’re passing on social media opportunities, you may be leaving some potential consumers behind.

Social media marketing can cost less and reach more. Forming a clever online marketing campaign or creating an online identity can help your business reach more consumers at a reduced cost.

Budget smarter, not harder

Leadingham Rodgers certified public accounts can help your business reign in costs. Through business consultation, bookkeeping, financial forecasting, and even tax return services, you’ll discover areas of improvement you didn’t even notice before.

There’s a fine line between cutting costs and reducing efficiency. Leadingham Rodgers can help your business find and navigate that line.

Learn more about cutting costs from Leadingham Rodgers’ team of expert certified public accountants.

When the cutting starts, it can be hard to know when to stop. A measured approach to cutting costs means assessing the obvious when you can and consulting an expert when you’re stumped. To learn more about how Leadingham Rodgers can lighten your budgetary load, call (334) 270-3366 today.