5 Cost Control Tips for Your Business

1. 5 Cost Control Tips for Your Business

2. Top 5 Cost Control Tips As a business grows and takes on staff, costs become harder to control. Even well run businesses pay too much or buy things they don’t need. Controlling your business costs can be simpler than you think, and will put your business in a much more profitable position. Here are our top 5 cost control’ tips: Start with the quick wins Think outside the office Shop around Know your numbers Don’t go too far… Let’s go through each one in more detail…

3. 1. Start with the quick wins • First of all, look for easy savings – your ‘quick wins’. • Identify savings that can be made quickly and easily without affecting quality and performance: • Are your premises heated unnecessarily? • Is the building lit up when it doesn’t need to be? • Are you travelling as cheaply as possible? • Are you making unnecessary journeys to meet clients? Can they come to you instead? • Rule nothing out! Sometimes just using less can provide significant savings.

4. 2. Think outside the office Consider cutting down on office hours. Can you work from home or ‘go mobile’ and work on the move instead? Do you even need a permanent office? Many businesses hire an office for a couple of days a week through an office rental company. When working from home, keep costs low by contacting your team through Skype, email and instant messaging. Consider cloud-based computing for all or just some areas of your business (payments, for example). Cloud computing offers mobile ‘anywhere/everywhere’ access, allowing you to log-in even when on the move.

5. 3. Shop around • Try and shop for cheaper options at least once a year. • Review your energy costs. Can you switch and pay less elsewhere? • Review your insurance. Can you get it cheaper? • Review the deals with your current suppliers. Could you get better value? • 55% of small businesses don’t negotiate discounts. • Less than half of businesses (47%) bother to research their purchases. • Whatever you spend, try and get it for less!

6. 4. Know your numbers Know the numbers for each day. A good business owner is on top of their finances at all times. They will know exactly how much money is coming and going out. Do you? Do it each day, and it becomes easier to spot unusual or unexpected expenditure. When you see it, question it! You don’t have to do this alone. Get others in your team to review figures daily. Give them a chance to speak up - encourage them to question your spending. Consider using a payment management solution that gives you real-time visibility of your bottom-line.

7. 5. Don’t go too far An important point to remember… Cutting costs too severely can leave you in a worse position than when you started. Don’t let your cost cuts affect the quality of your products or services. This can affect sales and lead to disgruntled customers/negative reviews. Staff morale can also suffer if they think the cuts are unnecessary. Make sure you communicate with them throughout - and give them a chance to air their grievances. Before making ANY cost cuts, think carefully about the implications.

8. In Summary Only 39% of small businesses focus on reducing costs! Failure to control costs can place a serious strain on your cash flow, and can even lead to insolvency. Remember - wasted money is money that could have been used to develop your business! Take the time to review your costs. Make it a regular task. It pays off in the long run…

9. AccessWallet’s Direct Debit Management Solution can transform your existing payment processes. AccessWallet helps you cut costs, by making invoicing and chasing customers a thing of the past. And it’s a cloud-based solution, giving you mobile ‘anywhere, everywhere’ access. Any Questions? AccessWalletCEC Winchester - Crawford Place,259-269 Old Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5RA Tel: +44 (0) 203 282 7154 Email: info@accesswallet.com Website: www.accesswallet.com Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).