Lowering Small Business Costs: 5 Ideas to Implement Immediately
Cost control is always the primary concern of small business owners. Entrepreneurs need to run lean organizations in order to get off the ground.
This means streamlining operations by saving time and money through following good hiring and management practices, and looking for ways to automate processes and find other low-cost alternatives for some services. There are as many ways to find savings in a small business as there are people who own them.
Finding the right strategy means understanding the industry thoroughly. Luckily that is the one thing many small business owners know best—they know their clients and suppliers in ways no one else can.
Here are some ideas to explore when thinking about lowering costs for a small business.
1. Find Low-Cost Alternatives to Traditional Marketing
Getting the word out regarding a small business is a major challenger because marketing budgets tend to be small and carefully guarded. Thankfully, there are many Internet advertising companies that provide more bang for the buck than traditional avenues.
The ROI for traditional advertising appears to be shrinking as digital marketing grows. The Internet offers a global market for a small business’ goods and services. A tight operation gets valuable exposure through television, radio, and print advertising.
Digital marketing offers the opportunity for low or even no-cost channels. Many companies drive traffic to their online services through YouTube videos or by using search engine optimization principles when writing content for their sites. Much of this can be done by existing employees or at low cost.
Good public relations can help a small business foster a community. By spreading positive and useful content and positioning itself as a thought leader with helpful advice, a company can build genuine relationships with potential clients that lead to valuable customer loyalty.
2. Manage Vendor Relationships
Finding the right supply and equipment vendors is often a major problem for entrepreneurs. These relationships are sensitive and require loyalty and trust on both ends. Luckily, there are many ways to save money and still obtain high quality products. Everyone is different, but many offer loyalty incentives or wholesale pricing.
According to a representative from Qualified Hardware, an online supplier in commercial door hardware, “Look for a vendor who’s experienced and enthusiastic about helping you grow; someone who offers round-the-clock assistance, a quality product, and fair pricing. These kinds of relationships will be most beneficial for all parties involved.”
Establishing a relationship of mutual aid with the vendor is vital. Understand that you are helping their business to grow just as they are helping yours. There is value in trust and a good vendor at the right price is often hard to find.
3. Promote Happy Customers, Convert Disappointed Ones
Many businesses use feedback channels as a mechanism for generating content for advertising . With sites such as Yelp offering reviews of local businesses that anyone can write, establishing good customer relations practices will grow your business.
When customers interact with your business, encourage them to give feedback immediately. During the feedback process, which could be a brief survey, direct them to leave a Yelp post about their experience. By doing this for all customers, a business will inevitable get a mix of good and bad reviews.
Never be afraid of a bad review. These establish the legitimacy of a company’s reputation because they demonstrate the reviews are coming from real people and not paid advertisers. Bad reviews are an opportunity to convert an unhappy client. Reach out to the person who wrote the bad review and offer an incentive to return and give the business another shot. If they walk away pleased, they are far more likely to write a positive review amending their previous statement and will feel a special connection to the business, simply because so few handle negative feedback well.
Reputation is the most valuable commodity in marketing—a good one is hard won and easily lost. Try to establish meaningful relationships with customers through positive interactions and excellent service. Then derive extra value by encouraging feedback.
4. Explore Hiring Alternatives
There are many ways to use contemporary productivity solutions to save money and streamline operations from a personnel perspective. Offering remote work and hiring interns can save you significant money.
Hiring staff is one of the biggest cost centers for businesses of every size. With remote work options, businesses can save money on many overhead resources, such as office supplies, rent, and insurance. There are a plethora of productivity software suites available to those who want to explore these savings.
Offering internships is another great way to attract talent and try out an employee while ascertaining the best fit. Interns often do excellent work and can become loyal employees if given a chance to succeed.
5. Always Look for New Ways to Save
Entrepreneurs need to be vigilant in seeking ways to streamline their business. There are many ways to save money and cut costs that can make for better quality work and provide peace of mind to the business owner.
This article, written by Drew Hendricks, appeared first on AllBusiness.com
