Saving money for small businesses

Saving money has never been more important, especially if you run or own a small enterprise. Every business sector varies, but no matter what you do, there are saving and cost-cutting tips that every business can use to improve its bottom line and create a decent financial buffer.

Here’s a quick rundown of the easiest ways for saving money.

Make your advertising smarter

Advertising doesn’t have to be expensive – of course it helps to get your presence felt in as many places as possible, but newspapers, radio and social media aren’t the end of it. Use as many opportunities as possible to get your name and what you’re about out there. When you send out your invoices, include a voucher, a discount coupon or news of your latest offers. If you’re sending out products to regular customers, slip in a sample of your new soap, for example.

Go for a shared office

One major expense for small businesses is office space and the time was that companies only had long, expensive leases to choose from. Nowadays, though, there are flexible office rentals, from a day to a month, or shared offices where small businesses have everything laid on, from broadband to a receptionist.

Review your practices

You can get into a mindset that certain suppliers, techniques, materials or processes are expensive and so avoid them. As the years pass, things change, so it’s always worth reviewing the things you used to think cost too much to see if they’ve become cheaper. A good example of this is care homes and caterers adopting single-use gloves and aprons from companies like Regal Disposables. Using these items is now cheaper than buying reusables and laundering them.

Switch to recycled printer cartridges

Most businesses spend a small fortune on printer cartridges – there’s no way to avoid them, really – but you can reduce your spend if you swap to recycled or remanufactured cartridges.

Join a buying association

A big help to many businesses is a bulk-buying club, where members pool their money to place large orders which they share, saving themselves money.

Watch your petty cash

Your petty cash is important, so look after it. If you’re spending a fiver here and there, it soon mounts up. Keep an eye on your petty spending as you might notice wasteful patterns that you could eliminate to free up more money.

Take advantage where you can

In a good way, obviously. Spend some time looking at all the tax deductions, industry discounts, council initiatives and grants you’re eligible for. This is especially important if you’re a microbusiness or you’re homebased. Homebased businesses can get tax relief on a portion of the mortgage payments.

Ask for discounts – always

Whatever your service provider is – insurance, gardening, water cooler, accountant or materials supplier – make a point of asking once a year or so if there’s any way you can pay a bit less. Many providers will be able to shave a few pounds off your bills if it means they retain you as a customer. Alternatively, you could offer to swap services to help each other out.