Small businesses, more than any other type of business, have been hit especially hard over the last year. In fact, the effects of Covid-19 have wiped some small business owners out. They have been forced to close their doors as a result in the disruption of their business.
Small businesses often operate on small budgets. In contrast, big brands like the Walmarts and Apples of the world have more ability to throw money at whatever project or marketing campaign they feel like. Consequently, small businesses more so than big businesses must remain diligent and work within their budgets. If they don’t, it can result in financial disaster.
Financial problems are difficult to avoid any time but even more so in difficult economic environments. Quite simply, saving money is more important now than ever before for small businesses.
So what is a small business to do? What areas can they focus on to try and cut costs? What will help them stay within the confines of their budget, whether operating in good times or bad?
Here are six key areas where your small business can start saving money immediately.
Electricity bills
You would be surprised how many businesses spend huge amounts on unnecessary electricity bills. They don’t really pay attention to it and just work with the same provider year after year. Savings in this areas could open up money to be spent elsewhere to further progress the business.
The chances are, your electricity bills are overpriced. Therefore, you need to carry out a business electricity comparison. This will enable you to choose an energy provider that will save you money. Plan on evaluating this every year when your electricity provider asks you to update your contract.
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Marketing
Marketing is key to success in the highly competitive industries of today. However, many businesses continue to fund high-cost marketing methods. Some of the oldest methods like, radio and print advertising are some of the most expensive. In today’s society, there are cheaper, more modern alternatives.
Try to focus on social media and website marketing. Make sure to continuously post content like blogs, articles or updates on your social media pages. This will help to drive your website up the search engine results on Google as they see more activity on your sites.
Travel
COVID-19 has taught businesses that constantly traveling to events, meetings, and conferences is not required in the digital age. Zoom meetings became the norm in the last year. The human touch of seeing people in person is missing in that meeting format. However, the travel costs saved may make worth it.
Businesses have realized this, so you can expect to see less travel in the future. Take advantage of this trend to save money in your own business.
Customer service
Modern customers are demanding, to say the least. They expect immaculate service, 24/7, 365 days a week. If you don’t provide them with this, they’ll simply switch to a different business.
Having good customer service doesn’t need to be costly. You can use chatbots and virtual assistants to take care of your online customer service – which will save you tons of money.
But whatever you use, it has to be good service. Don’t skimp on this if it will drive business away. Better to have smart, experienced and courteous people handling your customer service to keep your customers happy. Otherwise, they will seek out another company that will treat them right.
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Remote working
Remote working has become popular over the past year. Many employees were forced to work from home due to Covid-19. How has this translated into cost savings?
For one, businesses can cut down on leasing office space. The home has become the office. Additionally, with less office space comes less utility bills. Furthermore, employees do not have to spend time traveling to and from the office everyday. Especially, in big cities this can be physically and mentally tiring.
This makes them more productive and efficient in their work. The added benefit of doing this is that you can make the transition to become a more sustainable and green business by ensuring that the office is not in use all the time and wasting energy.
Outsource
Outsourcing, particularly in non-essential areas, is an excellent way for your small business to save money. You can outsource accounting, social media marketing, engineer work, telemarketing – pretty much anything.
If you want to make sure that you are saving money while on the hunt for companies to work for, you should brush up on your negotiation skills. You might come out with a much better contract deal because of it. Just remember: If you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it.
This can also be applied to the suppliers you work with. By simply renegotiating with your suppliers, you might be able to reduce your monthly bills, especially if you’ve had a relationship with the suppliers for a long time.
All of these options are available to immediately. Figure out which ones will work for you and start saving money today!
Leave a Comment or Answer a Question Below: How did Covid-19 impact your business? What other areas can you look at to save money? Has bad customer service ever prompted you to look elsewhere? Have you found Zoom meetings to be an efficient and effective form of doing business?
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