6 Ways to Cut Your Small Business Expenses This Week

Image via Flickr by Ken Teegardin

Small business owners are always on the lookout for cost-cutting strategies that can help increase profits and bring in new business. Keeping close track of your expenses is essential, but where do you go from there? Using these tips, you can bolster your business and reduce spending right away, freeing you up to focus on day-to-day operations.

Outsource Duties

Maintaining a proficient HR staff can really add up. That’s why many business owners are opting to go with external providers. These days, you can outsource anything from administrative responsibilities to website development, so it’s easier than ever to find highly qualified contractor ready to charge a fraction of what you’d pay a salaried employee. Another option is to hire an intern to perform specific job duties. Interns are available to work for less, or even nothing at all if they’re looking to obtain college credit.

Send Money Online

Writing out paper checks is not only labor intensive, but you also have to figure in the costs associated with the materials. In this high-tech era, there’s no reason not to pay employees with direct deposit or online money transfers. When you send money online, you can even enjoy great foreign exchange rates, which is essential for businesses that have contractors or clients internationally.

Cut the Landline

Smaller businesses can generally get by without a landline connection. Allowing employees to use their mobiles to conduct business tends to be cheaper, even with monthly company reimbursement. Most cell phone providers will even work with businesses to offer attractive voice and data plans that work within your budget. Just ensure that the plan you choose doesn’t come with superfluous features.

Negotiate Your APRs

The annual percentage rates on those credit cards are adding up, increasing your business expenses with each passing month. Tackle high percentage rates by contacting your credit card company and negotiating a lower interest rate. And since many business credit cards tend to come with annual fees, you may want to negotiate those as well.

Negotiate Supplier Prices

Most business owners know the value of negotiation. Utilize this skill when contacting suppliers, who are more often than not open to negotiations. If you run into a supplier that isn’t willing to budget, shop around until you find a cheaper source, and then contact that supplier to say you would rather work out a deal than switch to the one offering lower prices.

Go Paperless

The costs associated with your Xerox machine or printer is probably more than you think. Combined with the fact that most office paper is thrown away shortly after printing on it, and you can only imagine the amount of waste your company is accumulating. That’s just money going out with the trash. Switching to a paperless file storage system is an investment that will save your business a lot of money on paper and printing supplies.

Making simple changes like these can cut your expenses almost immediately, helping you put those extra funds into making your business better than ever.