Saving money in your business

News: August 2012

Saving money in your business

All businesses are dedicated to saving money wherever possible these days. The economic downturn has brought with it a new focus on cost saving. Here are a few ideas which you can implement in your business in order to save money.

Use Less Paper

A lot of initiatives used by businesses to go green can also be used to save money. Paper saving is one of these. The office can save paper by printing out only those documents that are necessary; using a smaller font size helps utilise less paper. Printing on both sides, and sending the paper out to be recycled helps both the environment and the company’s finances.

Switch Off Electronics

All electronic and electrical items can be switched off when not in use to save electricity and money. Encourage your staff to turn off their computer before leaving the office each day and switch monitors off during lunchtime, etc in order to reduce power consumption. Other initiatives to consider include introducing a policy of turning off the lights when leaving a meeting room – the next person to use the meeting room can always turn them back on when they need them.

Cut down on Travel

With the huge increase in fuel prices. travel has become extremely expensive. Mileage expenses can also be a huge outlay for businesses. You can cut down on the level of staff travel required by your firm by hosting meetings over video conference on teleconference. If travel is truly necessary, employees can be encourage to car-pool instead of taking 2 or more separate cars to the same meeting.

Alternative Systems

Many offices spend huge amount of money on lighting and air-conditioning. The air-conditioning does not always have to be kept at 18 degrees. Consider adjusting the temperature by a couple of degrees (while still keeping it comfortable) and the difference it makes to your electricity consumption can be substantial. Many businesses have even installed solar panels on the roof of their office building, to generate their own power. Solar panels are expensive to install but pay great benefits in the long run. However with our climate they may not necessarily be suitable – consider this before installing such a system.