5 easy ways for small businesses to cut costs

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Reducing business spending during a recession is one of the few available ways to secure a place in the market and make a profit from your business. The wrong strategy to reduce a company's expenses can cause it to go bankrupt. However, there are ways to reduce company costs without jeopardizing the business.

By saving money on utilities, you can attract the best specialist even from abroad without increasing overheads. And the money that goes into shipping and maintaining the "high status" of the business, you can safely use to grow it.

Here are 5 ways you can avoid the costs that threaten to "eat" your money.

1. Keep track of your utility costs and motivate your employees not to waste energy

The money you pay for telephone, internet, lighting, and heating can also be saved. It is especially important to keep track of this now because Ukraine is changing utility tariffs again. There are a lot of errors in charging, so every businessman must be ready to prove his case.

It's also important that your staff is also motivated to save money. Little things like turning off computers and other equipment when they go home, and turning off the lights in rooms like toilets when they leave, both save money and reduce emissions.

2. Freelancers do the same work, but you don't have to pay taxes for them

Before hiring new employees, think carefully about whether you need another worker in the office to perform these duties. If your answer is no, hire someone to work remotely. Freelancers do the same work, but there is no need to increase overhead costs for the sake of hiring another permanent employee.

You can track the work of remote employees with the help of the Internet, and look for them on freelance exchanges. And don't limit yourself to your country - that way you will find exactly who you need, leaving out where he/she lives.

3. Auditing your suppliers will save you from irrational expenses

Are you used to your suppliers? Do you trust them because you've been working together for many years? But extra checking and comparing prices with other suppliers certainly never hurts. This is business, and you should always look for something better.

A lot of money can even go into indirect purchases - little things like stationery, water, and coffee for the office. In some cases, you may even spend a little more money now, knowing that you can rely on a certain supplier in the future. But a systematic check is never unnecessary.

The same goes for providers of various financial services. For example, take a closer look at cloud-based account opening and international payment management solutions like Transferra - maybe your current solution isn't as profitable.

4. Review even minor costs and look for ways to reduce them

Your costs don't have to grow every day - there are always ways to cut them. Look at where your money is being spent and, if you feel that these costs are exorbitant, find ways to reduce them.

For example, through well-chosen courier services.  To maximize savings on this will help to carefully familiarize yourself with the tariffs - express delivery should be used only in extremely important cases because the rates for it are much higher. It is also necessary to constantly inquire about promotions and the availability of discounts on a particular type of courier service.

5. Control the amount of tax deductions

To do this, keep track of all, even the smallest expenses, and keep a record of receipts and invoices - get your accountant involved.

Avoid tax penalties - sensible organization and filing documents with the tax office on time will save you from penalties. And also pay attention to possible benefits for your business from the state.

Here are a few other areas to consider:

●      Reducing the cost of "maintaining a high status". This may include moving to a less prestigious and less expensive office. "Consolidation" of services, divisions, and personnel in the occupied premises, abandonment of excessive areas, and their lease or sublease. 

●      It is also possible to reduce the cost of company vehicles. If it's full of expensive and uneconomical business cars, you'll have to spend a lot of money on fuel and maintenance.

The recession period is a real test for business. But as a result, it will teach you how to effectively manage your company's costs. It is now that businessmen are finding many progressive solutions that they would not have even looked for if it had not been for the crisis. Try to look at your business from a different angle, and you are sure to find where you can save money, and perhaps even make money.

3 Vital Ways To Protect Your Small Business

As an entrepreneur, you’ll want to do everything you can to protect your small business. It helps make sure you see success and can actually run your company long-term. You’ll already know about more than a few ways to do this:

• Installing alarms and cameras

• Registering your business properly

• Knowing all of the legalities

• Even hiring security professionals

These are far from the only ways to protect your small business, however. If you want to keep it truly safe, you’ll need to go a little bit further than that. Three practical strategies stand out for this.

Protect Your Small Business: 3 Vital Ways

1. Be Smart With New Clients

If you’re a B2B business, then you’ll need to be smart with the clients you take on. While everyone enters an agreement in good faith, it doesn’t always work out that way. Some could fail to make payments when they’re supposed to, and you could be left in the lurch over it.

That’s why it’s always worth being smart about this. Getting a deposit before starting work is a mandatory part of this, so put some effort into it. Researching your clients before taking them on can also help, especially when it comes to what other suppliers have to say.

2. Protect Your Employees

One of the key ways to protect your small business is to protect your employees. Workmans compensation and other legalities could be a massive risk to your company. Go out of your way to prevent this as much as you can. Adhering to health and safety requirements is the least you can do.

By properly looking after and protecting your employees, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. While this could take a little time, it’ll be more than worth it. You’ve no excuse not to look after them, and you’ll even be legally obliged to. Put the effort in.

3. Get Professional Help

There’ll be more than a few parts of your business you mightn’t be too skilled at, despite how important they are. The finances and legalities are some of the more notable of these. You’ll have to make sure they’re taken care of, and are actually looked after by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Accountants, attorneys, and similar professionals can help with this. Know when you need the help, and don’t be afraid to get it. The benefits far outweigh the costs, so you’ve no reason not to hire people that can actually help with this.

Protect Your Small Business: Wrapping Up

You’ll need to protect your small business if you want it to succeed and grow. Don’t just stick with the basics, however. Go out of your way to keep it as safe and secure as possible. This doesn’t have to be as difficult as you could think, however.

There are multiple ways to protect your small business, some of which can be easier than you’d think. It’s worth putting the effort into them if you want to keep your company safe.

3 Affordable Small Business Communication Options

Small businesses are vital to our communities because they provide incredible products and services with a more personal touch. Many small businesses are looking for ways to ramp up their customer base, but they aren't sure they can handle an increased volume with their current staff load.

There are several ways to deal with higher volumes of customer inquiries, such as outsourcing customer support or getting a toll-free phone number, but many business owners worry that it will cost them too much to get started. Check out three affordable communication options for small businesses below! 

1. Business Phone Number

Business phone numbers have been around for decades now, and they provide a sense of trust among customers. It used to cost a small fortune to get a business phone number for small companies, but now there are some free business phone numbers offered by quality companies.

Small businesses with their own phone line, instead of an employee's cell phone number, seem more official, and customers appreciate the opportunity to speak with a real person. Depending upon the size of the business, a business number may connect directly to a person, or it may guide a customer through a series of questions to find the right agent for them to speak with. 

2. Live Chat

Some customers prefer to speak with a customer support agent via online chat. This allows them to type out their questions and get written responses quickly. Agents are still required for live chat to work, and customers enjoy this option because it connects them with a real person, but they can write out their responses instead of talking them out. 

3. AI Support Bots

Support bots that use artificial intelligence appear to be the way of the future. These support bots are similar to live chat, but they don't require an agent to do the responses. This is a great option for businesses who get huge volumes of emails, voicemails, or chats with many of the same questions that can easily be answered automatically. 

AI support bots may be able to answer a customer's inquiry on their own, like looking up the shipping status of a product using the tracking number, reporting business hours, or giving directions, or it can forward a more advanced question to an agent during normal business hours. 

Many businesses find that it's helpful to have a mix of two or all three of the above communication options to give customers a choice about how they can get the help they need. Having open communication channels can help build a sense of trust with customers and keep them coming back again and again.