Don’t waste your money
Minimising outgoings is a difficult task for companies that have already implemented cost-cutting measures. The good news is that there are some less obvious ways in which you can minimise your overall costs without damaging customer service.
A good first step is to talk to your employees – if you are looking to make changes it helps to get them on board and they may even have their own ideas on how to reduce waste.
Older staff can be resistant to change, so if you are serious about saving money it might be worth investing in training to demonstrate how everyone can benefit from doing things differently.
Driving down costs
Almost every business relies on transport to some extent, whether that is for making deliveries or picking up materials. One way of reducing driver costs as a percentage of turnover is to use telematics technology, which can pinpoint inefficiencies by showing you how much fuel is being used per vehicle and each vehicle’s average speed.
The data can also help identify driver behaviour issues, for example if a driver is braking harshly or exceeding the speed limit. These issues can then be resolved through driver training, which will have a positive impact on reducing fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, as well as improving general road safety.
With petrol and diesel costs being so unpredictable you might also benefit from using a company fuel card. While this will limit where you can fill up, you should get a better price.
Cutting your cover ain’t worth it
We are all familiar with using price comparison sites to shop around for the best deal on our home insurance, so there is no reason to take the first business insurance quote you receive or assume your existing provider is offering you the best deal.
Monitoring insurance costs to ensure they are appropriate for the risks you face can reduce the amount you pay for your cover, but you must also accept that it might push up your premium where existing cover is found to be inadequate.
The potential cost to a business that chases the lowest premium without ensuring that its policy provides adequate cover can be devastating in the event of a claim.
Prevention is the best cure
Likewise, don’t be tempted to delay scheduled maintenance of equipment or vehicles. Machines that receive regular maintenance operate more efficiently and use less energy and are less likely to break down.
A proactive maintenance programme reduces the chance of a vehicle malfunctioning on the road and causing an accident. In addition, properly maintained vehicles are on the road more and cost less money in repairs over time.
When it comes to measuring the success of cost-cutting measures, the proof is in the pudding. By examining the data from a cloud-based accounting solution such as Big Red Cloud you can quickly see what is working – and which measures are not producing the desired result.
