Different areas to reduce business costs

When it comes to running a successful business, the biggest rule is to control costs and increase your revenues. It sounds like a simple task, but it can be difficult to implement when you take into consideration rising business costs such as electricity, communications and wages. Below, we’ve put together some of the best ways to reduce both fixed and variable costs in different areas of your business to help you meet corporate objectives.

Packaging and delivery

If your business sends letters and parcels, then looking toward your freight and delivery company is one of the best ways to cut costs. The United Kingdom is home to an array of competitive delivery companies, each vying for contracts with small and medium-sized businesses. When it comes to packaging, aim to drop some weight by opting for lightweight packaging and removing inner carton and containers, as recommended by East West Manufacturing. You should also seek to cut down on the junk mail and promotional materials you send to customers, and instead, consider switching to a mailing list database.

Bank fees

Bank fees are notoriously high for small and medium-sized businesses, so shop around and find the best business bank account for your company. Avoid banks that offer limited-time discounts, and instead look for one that offers all of the services you need at the best price. Money Saving Expert recommends sticking to a personal account if you’re a sole trader or finding the lowest charge business bank accounts to claw back some money.

Communications

Communications is one of the costliest parts of any business, especially if you speak with clients on a regular basis. Although many business phone contracts offer cheap or ‘free’ calls on an unlimited basis, very few have a scheme in place to serve international calls. Consider a company such as Planet Numbers, who offers international phone calls from as little as 1p.

Marketing

If you spend a lot of money on outsourcing your marketing, consider scaling back and carrying out some of the cost-effective tasks in-house. It doesn’t take long to update your social media handles, and, if you schedule it correctly, you could ask every member of your team to write an article every month for the company blog. Some of your budgets for on and offline marketing will have to remain, but look around for the best offers and avoid outsourcing all of your marketing to a firm that’s bound to be making a significant markup.

Human resources

Outsource key human resources tasks to a third party company. There are many cost-effective solutions for managing payrolls and delivering the essential human resources tasks in any business, allowing you to cut down on the potential costs of hiring a dedicated human resources department for your business.

These tips should help you reduce business costs and increase your profit margins across the board. Remember that, when it comes to business, you must be sensible when it comes to spending money if you want to remain competitive and profitable at all times.