Six killer ways to save money and time when running your business
There are two important steps in building a profitable business. These are increasing sales and saving money.
Of course, every business owner wants to increase sales; it is the whole point of having a business. However, it is something that is often out of your control. The ability to save money, on the other hand, is something that you can manage.
Putting processes into place to save money – and time – will make it a lot easier and faster to get to those goals. By saving money, you will add to your business income, but it also allows you to handle problems that may arise in the future. It also enables you to build brand recognition with your business clients.
In this article, we look at six killer ways to save time and money when running your business.
1) Look at affordable tech solutions
In any business, the chances are you will need to use multiple forms of technology and software to get everything done. It might be managing your internal communication, holding virtual conferences with your clients or simply sending emails and tinkering with your website.
The price range of all the tech can vary greatly. For that reason, you must shop around and weigh up all of your options. The most obvious is to look for bargains and great deals, especially if you are buying in bulk. However, do not be afraid to look at alternatives – you can even rent macbook pro and other hardware.
In terms of the software, there are plenty of free versions that are more than capable of coping with the demands of a small business. As your business grows and you have more working capital to play about with, you can invest in full paid versions.
2) Look at outsourcing and consolidation
One mistake that businesses make is hiring more people than they need. If you have employees sitting around in an office twiddling their thumbs, that’s a surefire sign that you are spending more money on personnel than you need.
If this sounds like you, there is something that you can do – outsource talent. and consolidate tasks. Some examples of tasks to outsource to freelancers include data entry, editing and translation, HR, and financial services, amongst many others.
It is much more efficient to pay one highly skilled employee who works productively than three average employees who don’t do a great deal. So, first, look at how you can consolidate tasks to reduce the number of extraneous employees on your books. Then, look at taking on someone who has the talent and ability to handle the work and pay them well for it.
If you can’t find the talent to do this in-house, or the tasks can’t be consolidated, look at outsourcing. This is where you pay a third-party agency, freelancer, or organization to do the work you need without hiring them.
3) Automate tasks where possible
If you want to save time and money, automation is essential. Business owners are juggling lots of hats, so by automating as much of the workflow process as possible, you will immediately increase productivity. In addition, those tasks that take up so much of your time can often be done by AI software and will give you room to breathe. It may also reduce your business expenses.
When you automate your workflow, you are saving money as well as time. In addition, they are tasks that your employees will be doing, so reducing their workload will reduce your recruitment costs.
Tasks such as data entry are necessary but are monotonous and demotivating and can incur some significant expenses. However, it can be easily carried out via automation, allowing you to get the tasks done quickly and without paying several members of staff.
4) Look for deals and discounts
One thing you need to be doing regularly is analyzing your cash flow and expenses. For your business to be successful, you need to know exactly where your money comes from and where it is going.
By keeping a close eye on your cash flow, you can avoid late fees and spending more than necessary because you left it too late to shop around and find good deals. It shows you exactly where you can or need to cut costs.
Businesses can save money when it comes to services and products. You often need to buy in bulk, which goes in your favor. When you are negotiating prices with vendors, talk to them about the sort of discounts they will offer you for buying in bulk. Sometimes it is worth increasing your order to take advantage of bulk discounts.
Other suppliers may offer loyalty discounts for businesses that exclusively buy from them or regularly. They may be prepared to do this to keep you on board.
If you are spending a lot with local suppliers, look at going further afield. In the ideal world, we would support the economy of where we love, but if the costs are detrimental to running your own business, you may want to look elsewhere.
5) Take control of your own content marketing
Advertising and marketing are some of the most significant expenses of a business, especially if you use outside firms to do this. We talked earlier about how outsourcing is a good idea, but sometimes, you have to do it yourself if you don’t have the capital.
While something that is always going to be done better by the professionals, content marketing can still be done pretty well in-house, write your own content and manage your own social media – there are plenty of guides on the internet to give you a good starting point.
6) Consider shortening the hours you operate
As a society, we think we have to work the traditional five day week. However, in the early days, or if your business is going through a tight period, consider moving to a four day working week model. It will save you on not only salary costs but transport, energy and operations. As your business grows, you can build up the time you are working and the number of employees you have.
This only works if you are not working effectively at the moment. This is an excellent solution if the rok is being finished in good time and employees are not doing anything else while at work. However, doing nothing can be tedious and can make staff feel demoralized.
A shorter working week gives them a more extended weekend to rest and come back to work fresh and ready to work to the best of their ability.
How can you save time and money?
Time and money are two of the biggest obstacles a business owner will face. When you start up a business, you know to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead and understand that you need to pour a lot of time and resources into growing it. However, this does not mean you have to work yourself to the bone or put yourself in vast amounts of debt to make money.
Building a business and watching it flourish is a gradual and time-consuming process. So while you are in the early stages, look at the ways that you can save both time and money and increase the workload and the expense slowly as it grows.
A successful company will grow in talent, space, and workload. However, you need to get to that point, and you will find it very difficult to get there if you spend more than you are earning all the time. Good luck.
Photo by Keren Levand
