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Everyday office expenses and business running costs can really eat into

your company’s bottom line. And in a financial crisis, you really need to be

keeping a tight grip on your purse strings. Many of these outgoings are

necessities you can do little about – rent, utilities bills, staffing costs - but

as a manager you can reduce them.

As a manager, your goal is to keep business running costs to a minimum,

without impacting on the day-to-day operation of you business. If you’re

looking to save some money, you should take inspiration from those living

in a thrifty and frugal way. Here are 4 easy but effective ways you can

reduce business running costs:

Go Green

It is possible to reduce the day to day expenses of your business and do

your bit for the planet. By ‘going green’ it is possible to save a huge

amount of money annually. Perhaps the easiest way you can cut costs is

by monitoring and controlling your power usage.

Just like you would at home, encourage your employees to ‘go green’.

Make sure you turn off lights in unused rooms, turn computers off at the

end of the day, and make sure heating and air conditioning units aren’t on

all the time. These small but simple changes won’t impact on the daily

running of your business, but will certainly save you a huge sum of money.

Keeping on the environmental route, you can also reduce expenses by

making a conscious effort to recycle. A paperless office is pretty much

impossible to achieve, but you can recycle unused paper to save money.

Recover paper from bad print jobs to use as memo pads rather than

paying for post-its.

Likewise, refill and recycle your ink and toner cartridges. This is much

cheaper than re-buying every time you run out of printer ink. There are

loads of things you can recycle in and around the office, so consider these

ways to cut your costs.

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Compare Prices

As obvious as it seems, many businesses neglect to compare the prices for

their supplies. With so many online and High Street companies offering

similar services, you can drastically cut your expenses. Introductory and

bulk-buy offers should be taken advantage of, as many print management

companies and other suppliers are always competing for your custom.

If you can find a better deal than the one offered by your current supplier,

you can always try haggling down the price. Your suppliers are running a

business too and won’t want to lose your custom. This means, in many

instances, they’ll price match for you.

Virtual Office

If you’re serious about cutting costs, or struggling with your expenses,

changing to a virtual office could be beneficial. If only temporarily, cutting

out rent and utilities costs can save you a huge amount of money. This will

only be suitable for certain industries, so make sure you research this

option fully before encouraging employees to work from home.

If you need a bricks-and-mortar address but you want to cut some bills,

why not move away from landline phones? With Skype and Google Voice

growing in popularity, you can still communicate with colleagues,

customers, and suppliers, at a reduced rate.

Temporary Staff

While laying off your workforce is neither productive or ethical, start-ups

and smaller companies can consider alternative ways to staff their

business. Hiring freelance, contract, and part-time staff can help save you

a lot of money.

The jobs market is extremely bleak right now, and many people would

jump at the chance for this kind of work. As your business grows and the

situation improves, you’ll be able to extend these contracts onto a

permanent basis.

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More established business could reduce staffing costs by taking on jobs in

house. Outsourcing to specialist companies can be hugely expensive.

More often than not, tasks such as admin, HR, and marketing can be

delegated to existing staff.

Businesses and homeowners alike are feeling the pinch, and looking for

ways to stretch what money they do have. Reducing your business

running costs doesn’t have to have a negative impact on your company.

You can save money, while still being hugely productive.

Charterprint are a professional print management company, looking to

help you reduce business running costs. Contact them today to see how

competitive their prices are, and how they can save you money on

printed business literature. Go to charterprint.co.uk