5 Things Your Business Should Cut on During Recession

There was a forbidden word in the design industry when I used to work there. The dreaded B word, budget. Everyone knew it, hardly anyone had guts to mention or even better, tame it.

For a long time that was the main word we dreaded but is seems that over the last few months a new one began floating around and no business dares to tame it either.

You probably know this word extremely well by now, recession.  Everyone talks about it now and let’s face it, there is a reason for that.

So many businesses suffer from the current recession every day because of raising costs of running a business, reduced sales and not so great prospects for the nearest future. And it is a natural first reaction to cut as many costs as possible, although sometimes businesses tend to overlook simple savings they can make by employing few changes into their structure.

1. Drop your monthly phone line rental and call charges

We rely on phones as our main communication channel after email. And I suppose many businesses spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on their line rentals and call charges a year. To reduce that cost, move your phone lines to voip operators, Skype or VoipCheap are some of the best options available. For a very small fee you can get your own landline number and very often free landline calls within your country or area.
Of course you need a reliable internet access to avail of those services but that seems to be no problem for most businesses today.

2. Do not buy/upgrade expensive software but look for open source or web app alternatives

I often see how new businesses would run into their IT supplier and spend big money on licenses of MS Office for the entire staff for instance. Instead of making that expense go for a free open source option such as Open Office or Neo Office. Or even better, move all your documentation to Google Docs, a free and very reliable service by Google. This way you will still have your word processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs but without the expense.
And the beauty is that the same goes for practically any type of software.
Once you are in a better financial situation though, then consider buying that expensive option if you really need or want it.

3. Reduce the cost of office supplies by turning your office into a paperless one

Do you really need to print every email you receive or every draft of that proposal you write?
Would keeping them on your hard disk not be enough? Businesses very often don’t even realize how much money they spend on office supplies, printing paper, envelopes etc. Whereas  these days you can store and manage every possible document on your computer or online. Just remember to backup your documents regularly.

4. Bring your electricity bill down by turning off all equipment for the night

Many businesses leave all computers running for the night not realizing the effect that has on their bills. The same goes for lights and other appliances. Turning them off for the night may greatly reduce your bills . Also change all your lightbulbs to energy efficient bulbs, this will make a difference too.

5. Cut your business subscriptions and seek online alternatives.

In most cases they will be free or much cheaper than what you’ve been paying so far.

5+. If you employ staff, make a move to telecommuting

My company made that move last year and it was one of the best things we did. Now only I work from a shared office, where I rent a simple desk space only. The rest of us work from their homes. This helps us to keep the costs really down and also makes us more productive. No more chatting in the lounge room, no more unproductive debates.  So it’s a win-win situation.

And most importantly, team up with other small businesses.

See if you can help one another by bartering your services or share some costs between the group. And even if not that you can always exchange experiences and knowledge and possibly refer business to one another.