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How to Reduce Business Costs

During the recession many companies have resorted to cutting staff in a bid to keep costs down and their business afloat. However, cutting down on unnecessary costs can be the sustainable solution your business needs. Money can easily leak from your business if you don’t monitor your ingoing’s and outgoings closely. Here are some changes you can make to reduce your business costs.

Overhead

Depending on the size of your workforce will determine the type of work place you need. If you're a one man band, then working from home is an obvious option. However if working from home is becoming a distraction, consider coworking as you only need to rent a desk not a whole office space and you can work with people who are in a similar situation.

If your business is beginning to expand and you need to take on more staff, offer the option of working from home or on flexi time, as this means that colleagues can hot desk as not all workers will be there at the same time. If you’re currently renting commercial office space, consider moving to industrial space as the rent is a lot cheaper.

If you need some new talent but don’t have the budget to hire someone, consider hiring a university graduate as an intern. Graduates are brimming with ideas and are often seeking a valuable CV opportunity. Some interns will be happy to work for free in order to gain some industry exposure.

Consider collaborating with some businesses that may be starting out. Offer your services at a reduced rate in return for them doing the same. For instance, If you’re a marketing company and know an accountant starting out, offer some free publicity in return for help with tax returns. This will help boost their profile and save you some money.

Word of mouth is powerful so use this to your advantage. Depending on your product or service, give a presentation or demonstration at an exhibition, festival or even a coffee morning. Have some business cards on hand and a promotional flyer so that they have a purpose to check out your service. If there is a local event going on, ask to feature in the program for the day. These are personable tactics and a cheaper way of promoting yourself.

Use social media as it’s free and a great way of increasing your business’ awareness. It’s a handy tool for engaging with your potential customers. There are a few things you can do without it costing money. You could create your own twitter hashtag campaign to create buzz and excitement around a service or product, offer money off if someone likes your page on Facebook or retweet in order to be entered into a giveaway draw.

If you have an office, kit it out with used office equipment from companies that may be closing down or moving on. Opt for laptops rather than desktop pc’s as these consume around 90% less energy. If you have a warehouse space, buy warehouse used pallet racking in order to store items in. Used pallet racking is as good as new racking but at a fraction of the cost and also beneficial to the environment.

Author Bio: This article was brought to you by Qubestor who supply a range of used and second hand pallet racking for warehouses.

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