Like it or not, we’re in a period of economic recession and, for some, times are very hard. Even if your business is doing well and you’re at least treading water, you should take this opportunity to make your business a leaner operation. Here’s a few tips to help you save a few quid.
1. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions.
I don’t know about you, but i’m a stickler for registering heaps of domains with the intention of developing them, and for signing up for subscriptions to online magazines I never get to read. Many subscription services use Paypal or Worldpay to take your money automatically, so you’ll be out of pocket before you know it. Go through your list of domains and decide what’s really worth keeping and what’s not. If you’re not using a subscription service, but paying for it, cancel it.
2. Weed out unnecessary consumables.
Before you go ordering that batch of new business cards or stationary you should decide whether you need them or not. Is there any point in ordering 10,000 business cards and letterheads with your address on them, if you might not be at the same location in 3 months? Order a little at a time, sites like Moo.com allow you to do just that.
3. Talk to your bank, and keep an eye on charges.
Let’s face it, nobody is friendly with the banks anymore. However many letters they may send saying “we’re still in business, do you need a loan?”, we all know they’ve all had a massive part to play in creating the current economic mess. Pore over your bank statements and fee schedules, call up, and whinge. Tell them you’re going to move your business from them, especially if you’re creditworthy and have a build up of cash. They won’t want to let it go, so they’ll do all they can to keep you. If you have credit facilities with the bank, renegotiate. You have every right to.
4. Keep marketing, but stay savvy.
Every business needs to market their products and services, especially during a recession. Spend a little more time researching the various advertising options out there, and rethink your marketing strategy. Are you outsourcing your marketing? Might it make sense to take some elements back in-house? There are lots of ‘agencies’ out there who will ‘get you to the top of Google’ and charge you a fee for it. They’re just using Google Adwords, and it’s a piece of cake optimising your ads and bids with the system Google have. Set up profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and every social network you can but for God’s sake don’t just leave it there. Tweet daily, create special offers for your Facebook friends, and find new and relevant contacts on Linked in. Oh, and create a blog. It’s a great way to become an authority in your field, which can generate new business for you.
5. Talk to your accountants.
You may be paying for expenses from your own pocket which you could be putting through as business expenses, saving you money by claiming back taxes on these costs. Your accounants might also be able to look over your accounts and identify new areas in which you can save money. Do you need to have your broadband, phone, and web hosting from three companies when you could merge the services into one monthly bill from one provider and get a discount for keeping your services with one company? If you have cash in the bank, should you be putting a portion of it into a high interest savings account? Your accountant should be able to give great advice to you to help you save money.
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Nice site, we can help businesses when looking for prices etc. A bit like your compare in the sense that you can see whats out there, but ours is B2B only. Working on phase 2.
Have a look
Sean