Success in business is simple, all you need to do is be left with more money than you have spent and owe when it comes down to the bottom line. Of course, getting into a position where this is possible isn’t always that easy. In fact, if you are out of control of your business’s finances, it can be anything but easy. Luckily, you will find some smart suggestions on how to get back in control of your businesses spending below, so keep reading to find out how to staunch the financial outflow.
Ban business class travel
Economical travel is essential for your business if you are looking to cut cost and back into control of your finance. What this means is that business class is banned, for everyone! It is, after all, one of the most luxurious, and costly ways to travel anywhere.
Of course, it was designed around the idea that business people need to be able to be comfortable and rest during their flight so they can reach their definition and get on with the important tasks ahead of them. However, for most companies, business class flights are an unnecessary expense and should be eliminated. Therefore, take a leaf of out of top brands books like eBay and send your executives on long-haul budget flights instead. Your business bank balance will thank you for it.
Lease office space and equipment
Next, when it comes to cutting costs, most people don’t realise that in many cases leasing can be cheaper than actually buying things outright. In fact, in a commercial situation, this can work exceptionally well because it not only allows you access to prime locations and premium business resources but also makes budgeting for the costs of these so much easier. This is because you know exactly how much you will owe each month.
Leasing office space can save you money.
Of course, an added benefit of leasing is that you do not have to sell or dispose of old equipment yourself when it’s time for an upgrade. In fact, the company that is leasing it too you will deal with this, and by using such a service, you can ensure that your business has the most up to date resources possible at all times.
Check productivity
Next, if you find your business is wasting money, it may be time to consider reviewing the level of productivity. Productivity is vital because if your company doesn’t have a grasp on it, you can be wasting a tremendous amount of time and money on things that are not making much of a difference to your bottom line.
When reviewing productivity, it can be useful to complete an internal audit, as well as speak to your employees. The reason is that employees are a valuable resource and often know what is working and what isn’t without even having to think about it much at all, as they are on the front line.
Once you have identified where time and money is being wasted, you will need to take action to stop this from happening. One way of doing this is to work on the processes for completing tasks that you have in place. For example, you may find that some stages of a particular process either in the manufacture of the product or on the administration side of things are redundant. If this is the case, then it’s entirely possible to remove these stages and change the process to be more efficient.
Reworking your process flows can save your business money.
Although, you may find that you have tasks that still need to be completed, but that it is not productive or efficient for your team to spend their precious time on them. In fact, with such a wide range of outsourcing opportunities available, it can sometimes be much more financially savvy to get another business to do these tasks for you and allow your employees to focus on other essential business duties.
For example, while an employee whose specialism is not SEO, may have the capacity to read up about on site and off site forms so that they can improve your online presence, it can take a lot of time and effort for them to do so. Instead, it is a much more cost-effective idea to offer this work out to a freelancer that specialises in this area.
Similarly, while it may be possible for your staff to answer incoming calls and direct them to the correct extensions, it can be much more cost effective to use answering services instead. You can even find ones with 1300 phone words, so it cost little for your customers to call and the number itself is super easy to remember. Something that can help boost your business profits in addition to the savings you will be making by ensuring your staff are free to focus on more critical tasks and improve their productivity.
Group together with other businesses
Often, in the business world, we see other companies in one of two ways, they are either our competitors or our suppliers. However, seeing other business from this limited perspective t is something that can mean we are missing out on some fantastic ways of saving money and so increasing our bottom line.
In fact, it is entirely possible to team up with other businesses and group together to invest in certain things. One reason for doing this may be so you can provide added incentives to your staff such as private medical care, gym membership, and even a company car scheme. You’ll have a much stronger negotiating position, because as a group with a more substantial demand you may be able to negotiate a much better unit price and make savings this way.
Review staff expenditure
While your staff are the backbone of your businesses, it’s likely that there are some that are performing better than others. In fact, there may be a few that are being carried by the others, or that are even making things more difficult, either concerning the work or how they interact with the rest of your employees.
If this is the case, then it may well be worth considering letting such staff members go. After the correct procedure has been followed, of course, otherwise it could end up costing you most money if it goes to tribunal.
Get a handle on purchasing
Lastly, if you are finding your company is wasting money, then one thing you cannot ignore is purchasing. In fact, it is crucial that you get a handle on your business resources budget as a matter of urgency.
To do this effectively, you can use a range of tactics. One that works well is improving you stock checking systems, which prevent the stockpiling of specific resources that unnecessarily. In fact, if you convert to a digital stock monitoring and ordering system you can set the levels automatically and then there is no room for human error and over ordering at all.
Although, if revamping your entire systems seem a bit extreme you can put some much more practical and straightforward safeguards in to prevent overspending.
One is to give the responsibility for handing out new resources to a particular person. Sometimes just the thought of having to ask for more pens, plastic wallets, or staples will be enough to make employees think twice before requesting them. Such a strategy should also help to reduce the temptation to pilfer office supplies as well, something that can end up costing your business a fortune!
Also, you may wish to consider using some eco-friendly strategies in your business, such as reducing waste, preserving energy, and even going entirely paperless in the office. Such tactics can work to your advantage in two ways, as not only will you be helping the environment, but you will also be reducing your purchasing costs for official materials, resources, and with utilities.
All things that can have quite an effect on your business’s bottom line and can help staunch the flow of money that is being spent unnecessarily.
