Handling the finances at an office can be stressful, especially if you’re just starting out and scraping by. Small businesses may experience a host of financial challenges, and many fail to see revenue for a good while in the beginning.
Cutting down your bottom line can be an essential step in moving the operation into the profit column. Here are some ideas for ways to do that.
- Invest in Online Security
The cost of lost data and online security breaches is more than the typical small firm can handle. According to IBM, about $4 million is lost annually due to security breaches, and the average cost of lost information or records is $158 apiece. Among healthcare organizations, that amount gets more than doubled.
To prevent such expensive mishaps, make sure your security is top-notch. The most important part of ensuring online security is establishing a strong Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption between your web server and browser to prevent hackers and cyber attacks.
Carefully read reviews on the best SSL software choices to make sure you’ll have affordable but quality protection.
- Go Green
The biggest trend of the past few years has been greening the office, and many companies who have done so successfully have reported significant savings. Some of the top suggestions for cutting costs and reducing emissions include:
- Investing in refillable ink cartridges
- Limiting paper use
- Switching to LED and CFL lighting
- Using water-saving features
- Installing a more efficient HVAC system
- Using smart technology to set the lights and thermostat
- Reducing, reusing, and recycling wherever possible
When you foster a greener mindset in your company, the practice of eliminating expensive, energy-guzzling activities and functions will become second nature.
- Hire Freelancers
Full-time employees are expensive, and at least some of their work can often be performed by freelancers. This is highly recommended for outside projects and other tasks that wouldn’t be fill a full-time employee’s time.
The world is steadily shifting to make freelancing and telecommuting more popular work options. You can save considerable amounts in taxes and employee benefits by using an occasional freelancer to do some of the work.
- Use the Cloud
Small businesses don’t need data centers, external hard drives, filing cabinets, and other expensive storage methods. They can use the cloud to hold their records. If you don’t need a lot of memory to store your files, you might even be able to do it for free.
The cloud is also useful for open-source computing. You can often use software that operates entirely on the cloud without having to download it or purchase expensive software packages.
- Boost Productivity
Research from Workforce indicates that lost productivity costs U.S. employers about $576 billion annually. Every business is a part of that cost when their employees fail to deliver quality labor while they’re on the clock.
Finding ways to boost that productivity can turn things around for the average small business employer. Further analysis shows that about 40 percent of the lost productivity is attributable to poor health in the workplace. If that’s true, another way to increase productivity might be to create an employee health and wellness program.
You could remove unhealthy snacks from the vending machines, switch donut runs to bagel runs, offer monthly gym membership discounts, share an immunization seminar, and give other useful tips for boosting productivity in your workplace.
- Download Freebies
Stop paying for overpriced software that’s too fancy for your needs. In a small business setting, you can often use perfectly adequate software that has fewer features for free. Some of the top free software options for small businesses include:
- ScheduleOnce
- Skype
- PicMonkey
- Infusionsoft
- Moz
- Social media
- Fiverr
- Freelancer
- Asana
- Google Tools
Explore the choices for free versus paid tools, and you can find ways to cut costs today!
Categories: General
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