
There is no doubt that times are hard and the gravy trains of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s have now been replaced by the very cost conscious businesses of the 2010’s. It is imperative that decisions to buy items that will commit organisations to a considerable amounts of money need to go through the cost benefit analysis. So, if you run a business, here are some of the areas to look to reduce your costs
1. Trim the Sales, promotions and marketing costs, reduce travelling to the most essential ones, utilise new technology such as video conferencing to communicate.
2. Printing Costs- look at different print options and web based printing. Look for alternatives, including the use of e-mails to send letters or scan and then e-mail to customers who can then print out the documents.
3. Consumables- This is one of the areas that being able to recycle may also help
4. Office/Computer Supplies- There is a lot of competition now in the printing sector that you can easy get suppliers to reduce costs, so negotiate or get suppliers to competite.
5. Maintenance Costs- here the alternative might be a fixed monthly charge without callout charges.
6. Telephone charges- use internet based telephony such as skype.
7. Bank Charges/Interest- since the banks are not lending as much as they used to, even with low level base rate, the banks still charge more for overdraft etc, so move bank if necessary.
8. Insurance- This has gone up by more than 30% in the last year, so comparison websites need to be used to get the best value for money.
9. Credit Card Charges- There are several credit card companies that do not charge interest for the first year on transfers. So taking advantage of such free offers can save interest charges totalling about several hundred pounds a year.
10. Fuel bill and utility charges- This is also another area where careful selection and changes of supplier can lead to lower costs. Loyality in this area will cost you dearly.
11. Office rental options- For those with office accomodation, options to work from home or relocation to cheaper cities areas where they can get some government support may be on the cards.
12. Táxi, courier and other transportation related costs. If these costs are important to your company, make sure that you get transport companies to bid for the contract to provide these services every year. You will be surprised how competitive the markets are and how much suppliers are weilling to negotiate on price.
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