6 Most Commonly Overlooked Cost Savings in Business

If you’re like most new business owners, you probably took the risk of starting your own company because it’s a long-held desire or passion of yours. The problem is that most business owners forget that it takes money to make money, especially when they are just starting. Numerous costs go unnoticed.

Cutting costs can be a quick and straightforward approach to increase your company’s profitability. Implementing cost-cutting techniques can result in immediate savings while also ensuring long-term profitability.

However, cost-cutting initiatives must be properly handled. Eliminating erroneous spending is helpful, but indiscriminate cost-cutting may result in a drop in quality or poor morale if employees fear being laid off or are not provided with the tools they need to accomplish their jobs efficiently.

This risk is significantly decreased by identifying areas where you can safely cut expenses, setting clear cost-cutting targets, and thoroughly investigating any cost-cutting initiatives before making changes to your organisation. Make a plan and a budget, then stick to it.

Sometimes these costs are clear, such as your wage or the equipment used to manufacture your items, but many costs are associated with the beginning and maintaining a business. We have prepared the list of 6 the most commonly overlooked savings in business to look out for in 2022.

1. Marketing Expenses

It can go a long way if you know how to use a small advertising budget efficiently. You may spend a lot of money on advertising if you hire a marketing firm, but it’s gotten a lot easier to do it yourself.

There’s no reason not to master the fundamentals when you have access to a wealth of information on the internet. You can rapidly get started with search engine and social media advertising. If you’re unsure, ask your staff if they’ve used the platforms before. There’s a good chance you already have a lot of untapped marketing expertise on your staff.

Advisors caution against slashing marketing expenses at the risk of becoming irrelevant. However, such expenditure should yield a reasonable return on investment (ROI). Giving in to Facebook’s ads to promote a post may appear innocent, but it’s a quick way to spend money. It’s like throwing good money down the drain if you don’t target your adverts properly. Determine who your ideal consumer is, what media they consume, and when they are most likely to make a purchase. Then modify your advertisements accordingly.

2. Office Space Expenses & Remote Working

If your company isn’t large enough to occupy an office, finding another company to share space with can help you save money on one of your greatest business expenses — rent.

If you don’t require a permanent office, coworking spaces are rapidly expanding and provide great working environments for smaller teams without the cost and stress of lengthy and expensive leases. Sharing with others has more advantages than just being a fantastic way to save money. You’ll quickly find yourself networking with a slew of other business owners and entrepreneurs, which will lead to collaborations and learning opportunities.

Many businesses today have an entirely remote workforce. Even if you aren’t ready to give up your lease just yet, there are numerous cost-saving advantages to allowing your staff to work from home. When there are fewer individuals in the office, it necessitates fewer resources and spaces. This can also result in lower day-to-day office expenses for office supplies, furniture, and equipment.

3. In-house Efficiencies

Efficiency is the holy grail in business, meaning doing the same thing (or better) for less money. However, some are more evident than others.

Improving employee well-being and workplace culture can minimise staff turnover, saving money on recruiting, training, and exit compensation while preventing the loss of talents, experience, and intellectual property.

Don’t mix business operations with productivity, as teams should focus on revenue-generating activities rather than administrative tasks. Look for methods to streamline processes, allowing employees to focus on more important responsibilities.

It is also advisable to avoid compromising existing clients in order to get new ones as it costs more to recruit new clients than it does to provide existing ones additional attention and value.

Some other ways of reducing in-house efficiencies include reducing inefficiency by identifying manual processes that may be automated or conducted on a less regular basis; reducing travel costs by scheduling plane tickets ahead of time and staying in cheaper hotels on business visits, and finding cheaper suppliers or negotiate better payment terms or discounts on acquired items.

4. Technological Expenses

Customers nowadays expect firms to have an online presence so that they may access corporate information at any time of day or night. In addition to the initial cost of website setup, you will incur recurring expenses such as tech support, web hosting, and domain renewal to maintain your website operational.

The cost of obtaining a domain and hosting, developing your website, information systems, computers, internet costs, and software, such as your accounting and payroll systems, are all examples of technological expenses. You may choose to outsource these responsibilities to other organisations or freelancers to save money, but if you want to handle it yourself, there are economical software choices available such as FreshBooks and Wave.

5. Memberships and Subscriptions

Joining your local Chamber of Commerce or BNI group can help your business develop, but membership costs can be expensive. One networking blunder that business owners make is focusing on groups of professionals that are precisely like them. While commiserating and trading trench stories can be beneficial, you should also be present with your high funnel audience so you aren’t networking in a vacuum.

6. Insurance

To protect yourself against potential claims, you may require Liability Insurance or Errors and Omissions Insurance, depending on the nature of your business. As a business owner, you may want to consider purchasing disability insurance in case a disabling sickness or injury prevents you from working.

Pitfalls To Avoid

Cost-cutting measures can have a detrimental impact, so make certain that any adjustments will not jeopardise your operational performance.

Some common dangers are as follows:

• Overdependence on a single provider may put you in trouble if that supplier fails
• Reducing your marketing budget may have an impact on your marketing approach
• Tighter control of your company’s finances may leave you without a safety net if cash flow becomes limited
• Cutting short-term costs such as training, R&D, or advertising can result in long-term deficiencies

Action Points

The next step is to schedule a staff meeting to analyse your expenses, explore potential cost-cutting measures, and commit to a continuous cost-cutting and monitoring procedure (or delegate to key staff to manage the process). You might also need to request assistance from your accountant with cost-cutting measures or explore ideas.

Final Thoughts

Financial forecasting is quite challenging, especially when you are just getting started. You won’t be able to plan for everything because every firm pivots, and the unexpected always happens. Having said that, you should do your utmost to keep track of every possible spend. Make sure you don’t overlook these six expenses when completing your financial planning and accounting.