Cut costs without cutting corners
Things are never easy for small businesses.
As a manager or owner, you often have to do it all.
And the wider world remains as volatile as ever.
So keeping a handle on your expenses is critical.
It’s a cut throat market, and you can’t afford to be wasting money.
Attracting and retaining customers and staff alike is a challenge.
So ensuring your finances are in order can keep you in the black.
Here are our top 5 tips you can start doing today to reduce expenses in your small business.
Make your marketing more efficient
With so many ways to reach customers, it’s easy to lose track of what’s important when it comes to marketing. You should still be judging your efforts on ROI: return on investment.
Run the numbers and it’s clear that, even though it doesn’t seem fashionable anymore, email marketing remains a superb option for marketing, often delivering 40x returns or higher when done well. While new social media channels are important when it comes to brand awareness, few methods drive sales in the same way email does.
Effective search engine optimisation is also critical, and its ROI exceeds 20x. Review your own marketing efforts and evaluate whether you are getting value for money in the channels you’re using. Could email campaigns and SEO replace some of your spend? Doing so could deliver a serious boost to your sales without breaking the bank.
Train flexibility in your team
Turnover costs remain a burden for many businesses. The true cost of hiring and onboarding a new employee often exceeds their salary, running into the tens of thousands. With that in mind, it pays to keep your existing employees around.
But with the business landscape constantly changing, how can you keep up with the demands of the future? Upskilling your employees could be the answer.
Sure, they may not understand TikTok right now, but they could learn, given the right resources. That could well prove more cost-effective than bringing in a new social media hire just to stay up to date with whatever new dance trends are in fashion right now.
There are plenty of other functions your employees can fulfil as well, from taking on managerial roles to helping with accounts. Why not start by assigning a time off manager using Findmyshift to review PTO requests?
You won’t just benefit from the broader skill set either. The extra responsibility might motivate employees and help show them that they have a future with your business in which they can progress.
Shop around for services
Your business spends plenty on the same things day after day and year after year. Rent, electricity, water, insurance, supplies, deliveries… the list goes on and on. But are you getting the best deal for all of these, or simply sticking with your existing provider out of convenience.
Shopping around when your contracts are due for renewal could save you thousands every year. There are great deals to be had if you’re happy to take a bit of time to do the leg work of switching. There are even switching services out there that can handle all of that as well.
Check your renewal dates now and set yourself reminders for when you might need to change suppliers. You’ll be surprised at how much you can save while still receiving exactly the same services.
Plan ahead with your staffing
Knowing when your business will be busy and when it’ll be quiet makes it far easier to have the right number of employees in at the right times. There is no point being fully staffed at 8pm on Christmas Eve when you’ve never had anyone come in past the 23rd.
Likewise, if there are times when you’re overrun and your customer service has suffered because you don’t have enough people in to handle everyone, you’re losing revenue there.
Look at past sales records to build up a picture of when your business is busy, looking for trends across times, days, weeks, and months. Use that to schedule smarter shifts that take into account your peak times and cut down on staffing when you’re likely to be quiet.
Research tax relief and resources
There are a range of tax breaks available to small businesses. You could be eligible for more than you think. Whether it’s using your property for business, carrying out research and development, or claiming tax-deductible expenses, there are a lot of ways to trim your tax bill.
Most governments also have small business schemes that can be cost-effective places to get advice, support, materials, and more. Take advantage of the shared knowledge and resources of these communities and your business will be on the road to success.