How to save money in your business
How can a business save money? It’s always a good idea to make the most of your budget and keep costs as low as possible. Here are 7 things you can do to reduce how much you spend running your business!
1. Do budgeting and forecasting
Budgeting and forecasting are important tools to help you make financial decisions about your business. If you’ve made a business plan you probably also have a business budget. But, forecasting is another useful tool to help see whether you need to save money.
Forecasting is estimating what amount of income and expenses you will generate in the future using previous financial data. If your forecast isn’t as profitable as you like, you know you’ll need to save some money in your business.
Read more about budgeting and forecasting
2. Look at your expenses
Keeping a close eye on your expenses is really important to understand where you can save money.
Start by doing an overview of your expenses and see what you’re spending money on, both on a regular basis and with one-off purchases. From here, look at where you can cut costs or remove regular items altogether.
If you have employees, you should create an expenses policy to make it clear which expenses are acceptable and if there are any limits on how much they can spend.
3. Negotiate with suppliers
If costs from your suppliers are high you can try negotiating a lower price, or buying in bulk to make a long term saving. It’s important to find the balance so you can keep a good relationship with your suppliers.
Alternatively, you can look around for cheaper options, as long as you don’t compromise the quality of your products or the supply chain in producing them.
4. Try organic marketing and PR
Marketing your business doesn’t have to cost you money! Social media is a great tool that you can find potential customers with for free. You can build a website using a free service, and host it with minimal costs. PR like getting featured in local publications is free too!
You’ll need to put in the time to make these solutions work for you, or outsource to a professional. But, there are lots of ways to spread the word about your business that don’t involve paid advertising.
Read more about how to market your business
5. Consider sustainability
Running a sustainable business can actually help you save money. By focussing on long term financial sustainability you can help your business grow in a way that will work long-term. You can also save money by ‘going green’, and choosing paperless solutions, reducing waste and cutting down on travel.
Read more about running a sustainable business
6. Use free tools
There are lots of free tools you can use to help you run your business! From managing your website to using a CRM to know your customers and get feedback, there’s a lot you can do for free with online solutions.
Read more about free tools to help you run your business
7. Manage your finances
Doing your accounting is essential to running a business. If you choose to do your accounting yourself you can save money, especially if you choose a software with lower fees.
With Bokio accounting software, you can do your bookkeeping, invoicing, and manage your finances in the same place. We have everything you need to help you prepare for your Self Assessment tax return, submit your VAT Return for Making Tax Digital and keep the right financial records. If you need an extra hand, we can help you find an accountant to work with.
Accounting is kept simple with Bokio, so you have more time to spend running your business.
Note: This article was updated August 2023
