- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 0
-
Sparkle (0)
As we push forward with hope for a prosperous 2010, many people are skeptical of the economy bouncing back even in the third or fourth quarter of this year. In 2009, I have seen several businesses fold due to lack of capital, poor forecasting of cash flow, and excessive overhead obligations. Unfortunately, these companies lacked initiative of being proactive in saving dollars and trimming back the “pork”. On the flip side, I have seen other businesses increase sales, give out pay raises and build their empire’s workforce. These companies had the foresight of adjusting costs and overhead based on whether revenue was up or down. And my all time favorite, I know a handful of small businesses that have been purchased by large corporations, leaving them flush with money, stress free and retired. I’m sure you would agree that having a company that is growing and saleable is a pretty nice place to be during this economic climate.
While most small business owners know that this is a time to hunker down on expenses and stay on top of their finances, corporations are also looking for ways to cut back on costs. Whether you are a small business owner that is “holding their own” or a large corporation trying to keep their helm steady, we are all weathering the same economic storm. With that said, here are ten quick and easy things you can do to help save money.
eInvoicing
Forget the paper invoice! Start sending all of your invoices electronically. This helps save your staff time and decreases your stationery and postage expenses. We implemented an electronic invoicing process in 2009 and just to give you an idea, we have saved approximately $6,000.00, which includes staff time, stationery and postage costs. Much to our surprise, most of our clients began to send in their payments prior to the invoice due date. Everyone likes a client that pays their bill on time, but we all love a client that pays their invoice early!
Virtual Meetings/Teleconferencing/Webex
Why travel when technology is right at your finger tips? Conduct meetings via webcast or through third party meeting software instead. Web conferencing tools like Microsoft Office Live Meeting gives you the ability to make online presentations to customers while saving on travel costs. Take the time to calculate airline, hotel, gas consumption, parking fees and any other expense you would typically incur. Don’t forget that your time means money too. You’ll be surprised to see how much you can potentially save. We conduct virtual meetings as much as possible. For every virtual meeting we schedule, our savings range from $175.00 to $250.00 per person per appointment. Now that’s a nice chunk of savings!
eCampaigns
Need to promote your company on a small advertising budget? Start an email campaign instead of a direct mail piece. Typically, online campaigns have a higher open and response rate than direct mail campaigns. Use an email marketing vehicle such as Constant Contact, My Emma, or iContact. By going this route, you may still incur the graphic design fees, but the printing costs are completely eliminated. If you are promoting an event, go a step further and push it out through various social networks. Desert Rose Design sponsored a blood drive for LifeSource last year. We pushed out the event details through email campaigns and our social networks. The event was so successful that we had double the turn-out of individuals to donate blood. All of this was done without using paper. (By the way, we are doing another on June 14th, so be sure to save the date!)
Turn It Off or Put It To Sleep
Are you the type of business that has computers running 24/7? Are the lights on from morning to night? Do you have LCDs and projectors in your conference room? By implementing simple energy saving habits, you can lower your monthly energy bills. Encourage your staff to enable low-power sleep modes and to turn off computers and monitors at night. Think about it, other than network servers, do you really need to have computers running all night? Plus it’s a
