All business owners want to save money, but that can be easier said than done. Expenses pile up fast and sometimes emergencies wipe out a good portion of your savings.
Since expenses can be so high, it might seem pointless to save small amounts of money, but that’s actually one of the best things you can do for your business.
Small amounts of money add up fast
It might just be $100 here and $300 there, but saving small amounts of money will add up over time, and accumulating money from multiple sources will make a big dent in your efforts to save.
For instance, if you save just $1,000 per year, that’s $10,000 saved in ten years.
There are many different ways to save money, including cutting back on expenses, finding better deals, signing longer contracts, avoiding unnecessary purchases, and pursuing reimbursement opportunities.
One truck line company started tracking their warranty reimbursement opportunities using Cetaris fleet management software and increased reimbursements by 990%.
For many fleets, warranties are forgotten and sometimes ignored because the savings aren’t huge. However, this case study proves that it’s worth pursuing every possible reimbursement, no matter what.
Here are some practical tips for saving small amounts of money:
· Cut back on software subscriptions. Businesses waste millions of dollars each year on software subscriptions they don’t use. Ever since software switched to a cloud-based subscription model, people have been paying monthly for services and applications they hardly (and sometimes never) use.
Businesses buy licenses for a special project and then forget to cancel when the project is completed. With automatic billing, it’s easy to forget.
However, this is often a big source of wasted money. Conduct a software audit to make sure you’re using all the licenses you own and cancel the ones you don’t need.
· Reevaluate your current expenses. Every once in a while, it pays to ensure you’re still getting the best deal on goods and services from your vendors and that you aren’t being overcharged on things like internet, electricity, and other expenses.
If you can find a better deal elsewhere, try negotiating with your existing provider before switching services.
· Require purchase requests. Giving employees access to the company’s credit card without approving every purchase is generally a bad idea.
Sure, it’s easier only to require approval for purchases over a certain dollar amount, but that gives employees the freedom to waste small amounts of money on a regular basis. Always require purchase approval, no matter how small.
If you give anyone the power to purchase without approval, limit this to department heads and train them to fully analyze each purchase beforehand, even if it’s just a $50 plugin for your website.
· Start buying top-quality. One way to save money is to stop wasting money. When you buy inferior, poor-quality goods and services, you end up spending more money in the long run because you have to pay more to fix problems and manage the shortcomings.
When you buy quality from the start, it lasts longer and you increase customer satisfaction at the same time.
It doesn’t matter if you save $20, $50, or $5,000 – it will all add up to a significant amount over time.
Saving small amounts creates a good habit
Once you start saving small amounts of money, saving becomes a habit and it will become automatic. You’ll train your brain to recognize opportunities to save that you may not have noticed before.
When you have the habit of saving money, you’ll be less likely to waste money when you receive unexpected sums or more than you thought.
Tucking away extra cash will serve you well in the future, so this is an important habit to develop.
Make changes where possible
If you notice money being wasted, make immediate changes no matter how small the amounts are.
For example, you might find that your IT department has been spending $40 per month on a service that can be rolled into your managed services plan for less.
Or, you might discover a $20 per month software subscription that your marketing team created, but nobody on the current team uses that application. Cut it all off.
Turn saving money into a habit
By now, it should be clear that you can save plenty of money by cutting unnecessary expenses and saving more often.
Stashing away $100 here and there will add up over time, so don’t consider any expense too small. Pursue all opportunities for reimbursement and in time, saving money will become a habit.
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