Explore 50 Simple Tactics to Streamline Your Business Costs

Building a profitable business can be achieved in two main ways. One is by boosting sales, which often gets the most attention. However, increasing sales isn’t entirely within your control. That’s where the second method comes in – saving money. By cutting costs and spending less, you can improve your bottom line without having to let go of staff or compromise the customer experience.

We’ve gathered 50 creative ideas from small business owners across the country on how they’ve saved money in their businesses. Here are some highlights:

1. Buy in Bulk During Sales: Tech entrepreneur David Mercer saves on office supplies and equipment by buying in bulk when there are significant discounts. He uses apps like RankTracer.com and Slice App to track prices and take advantage of price drops.

2. Do Your Own Content Marketing: If you have more time than money, consider becoming your own content marketing expert. Stephanie Parks, founder of DermWarehouse.com, suggests starting with influencer marketing. Find industry experts, interview them, and publish the interview. If you’re not confident in your writing skills, curate articles from your industry and comment on them.

3. Unplug Appliances with Powerstrips: Business owner Steve Hatmaker suggests plugging your appliances into easily accessible powerstrips and turning them off when you leave for the day. This can significantly reduce electricity usage.

4. Renegotiate with Suppliers: Felipe Vasconcelos, owner of Elastic Band Co., recommends reviewing your operational expenses and renegotiating rates with your suppliers. His company saved an average of 25% in production supply costs with just one phone call.

5. Use Original Equipment Manufacturer’s Products: Shop around for high-quality OEM products that are comparable to the original. Vasconcelos saved about 90% in production costs doing this.

6. Cancel Unused Recurring Services: John Kinskey, founder of AccessDirect, advises reviewing your credit card statements monthly to identify and cancel unused services. This can save close to 10% in overall costs.

7. Shop Around for Electricity: If your business is located in a state with energy deregulation, you can save money by shopping for your electricity or natural gas supplier, says Kelly Bedrich, co-founder of ElectricityPlans.com.

8. Automate Your Taxes: Automating your business taxes can save both time and money. Barbara Karpf, president at DecoratorsBest, saved about five hours a week by automating her business’ taxes.

9. Turn Off Your Computers: Leaving your computer on overnight can add over $200 a year in unnecessary energy consumption. Evan Harris, co-founder and CEO of SD Equity Partners, encourages everyone in his company to turn off their computers.

10. Get Free Forms: Zondra Wilson, CEO of BluSkin Care, suggests finding free forms online that you can download, customize, and print instead of buying them or creating them yourself.

These are just a few of the many creative ways you can save money in your business. Remember, every little bit counts when it comes to improving your bottom line.