Small Business Sunday: Three Easy Ways to Reduce Costs and Increase Profitability

When you’re running a small business cutting costs can be a great way to increase profitability or afford more essential assets. The problem is, when you’re running a small business things are usually happening so quickly that you don’t take the time to analyze your spending and determine if you are really spending as wisely as you think. Well for this edition of Small Business Sunday I thought that I would share three things that I have done over the last four years to save money for my business.

Before I give these three recommendations let me caution you by saying that I’ve always been careful not to sacrifice quality, efficiency, or profitability when saving money. Usually most of my money-saving ideas come from reading about new technologies or ways other companies have streamlined their own businesses. If you make a cut that impacts your business in a negative way, it wasn’t worth saving the money! Okay, now onward to my three easy ways to save your small business some money:

  1. Switch from Microsoft Office to Google Docs – it’s a small move but actually dramatically has improved efficiency. I can access docs from anywhere and any device, and sharing documents is much easier so collaboration has become even more efficient. This can cut thousands of dollars or more out of your yearly expenses depending on how many employees you have.
  2. Cancel your home/office phone and switch to an Internet telephony service – I gave-up my home-office phone about a year ago and switch to Skype, now I’ve switched to a combination of Google voice and Skype. I’ve found the call quality to be better, collaboration easier since I can also share my screen or video conference, and it’s free. Tally this up among just a few employees and you’re talking major savings every year.
  3. Book Hotels and Flights together using a service like Expedia – major discounts are available when you book your hotel and flight together. It’s amazing how few people use this option but I’ve found that I can often shave up to 50% off my total airfare+hotel costs when I book these together using an online travel service like Expedia. I also use Farecast as a little extra help to determine when is the best time to buy the flights.

There you have it – three tips that you can start using right-away that should allow you to put more money into your business, rather than your cost of doing business. Feel free to share your own tips as always in the comments section below!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton