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How Can I Make My Small Business Financially Sound?

Dave Thomas

March 29, 2013

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For the smart small business owner, keeping an eye on the books is a never-ending job.

With the economy still on treacherous ground, small business owner can’t simply dismiss opportunities that arise to save money. That being said, what are some of your efforts you plan to deploy in 2013 in order to reduce your company expenses?

Among the items to look at:

1. Salaries - This is the trickiest of all financial cuts that you can tinker with, especially given the fact that many workers these days are also working part-time jobs on the side just in order to make ends meet. In the event you decide to freeze salaries, do away with bonuses, and even look at reducing some salaries, by all means communicate the why and when to your employees who will be impacted. If you fail to do this, you could create morale issues in the office, something no business wants to confront;

2. Advertising - How much money have you invested in your advertising and marketing budgets for 2013? If you want to trim the budgets and still reach out to consumers, there are other means that you can deploy without cutting off everyone. First, how much time do you invest in your company’s website, especially when it comes to blog posts, educational tutorials on your products and/or services, and making it easier for consumers to contact you to answer questions and solve issues. Also, how much time have you invested in social media over the last year? Unfortunately, too many companies fail to take advantage of all SM has to offer. If you are willing to invest the time and money, social media can be a tremendous asset to your company. Turn to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other such sites to spread the word;

3. Consolidate - There are a number of ways you can consolidate your measures to save your company money, but they take some time and planning. Look at saving money on office supplies, including buying such things as items for your printer, computers, and other machines in bulk and/or when on sale. If you have employees that must make deliveries to customers and/or meet them on sales calls, try and team up some of the visits in order to save gas and wear and tear on company vehicles (where applicable). You can also cut down on expenses around the office like utilities simply by looking at possibly going to four day weeks (10-hour workdays). As a result, you can close the office one extra day during the week to save on your electric bills. Look at all the possibilities, prompting your employees to provide ideas on how to keep company expenses down;

4. Opportunities - Finally, look for different opportunities to have others promote your company for you. As noted earlier, social media is a great means to spread the word, but you should also look into the possibility of things like guest posting on other blog sites. When you do this, look to see if you can get a keyword or two into the posts or at least your bio, allowing you to bring traffic to your company site. If there are events in your community that would be worthwhile for you to sponsor and/or take part in, this is a great way to inject yourself into your region. In doing so, consumers will more than likely tell their friends, family and coworkers about what you offer, meaning more opportunities to do business.

With all the ways you can save money for your business, make it a financially sound 2013.

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