Innovative ways to cut costs.

In the current turbulent economic times there are ways to generate savings for small businesses and non-profit organizations, other than cutting payroll.

Here are some innovate ways to accomplish this:

1. Review your current utilities such as Phone, Electricity, Internet and Gas and look for savings opportunities. As an example, consider that many professional business and non-profit organization rely on dedicated internet connections which can cost as much as $400-$600 per month, when the same connections might be available through your current Cable or Phone provider for $100 per month. Also, consider developing strategies to preserve energy. By doing so not only will it save your organization money, but it will aid the environment as well. Phone costs can also be significantly cut by switching to VOIP phone service providers, which provide the same reliability, sometimes at deep discounts.
2. Look for wasteful spending. For many larger organizations bad business rules can significantly increase wasteful spending. Consider reviewing all of your current expenditures one by one and developing innovate ways to save. Some examples of such are the implementing information system flows to audit your current expenditures bet
3. Utilize the tools and staff that you have within your organization. If you are planning on purchasing a simple web page, developing a basic database system or etc., stop and look internally to see if any of your internal staff is able to accomplish something that may suite your needs, without having to go out and make the purchase.
4. Planning on purchasing new equipment. Look for strategies that can refurbish your existing equipment or resell your existing equipment before purchasing.
5. Are you processing credit cards at your business? Contact some other Merchant Service providers and see if they are able to offer you a better deal based on your last several statements. Savings can range from 5-10% or more per month.
   

These are just some of the suggestions about ways to maximize your operations efficiencies and save money. Too often companies resort to cutting payrolls as the first alternative to developing savings. This can be very bad for morale and has the potential to decrease productivity. Always consider at looking for alternative ways to save before resorting to payroll cuts.

Is your company utilizing innovative ways to save? Do you have some additional suggestions about innovative savings programs? We want to hear from you.

Alliance Business Solutions
www.alliancebizsolutions.com