Home
>
Small Business
>
Practical Money-Saving Tips For Small Businesses

Practical Money-Saving Tips For Small Businesses

One of the primary concerns all small businesses have is saving money. When it's time to trim the fat, most look for one giant expense to decrease or eliminate in order to stay within budget. More often than not, it doesn't work that way.

Most budgeting experts will tell you that re-evaluating your overall expenses and cutting each by just a bit will actually gain you more ground than doing without something major that you really need. Here are a few ideas of areas to look at and costs to reduce that can have a major impact on your overall profits.

1) Internet Access - Every online business owner must have access to the Web. But consider this. The market is so flooded with ISPs that you have a lot of room to dicker. Start by searching the Internet under keywords like "cheap internet access" or "discount isp" to bring up lists of possibilities. Then, do one of two things.

(a) Try some of these independent ISPs. Smaller companies can have high quality service and support just like the "big boys". One business owner I know recently switched from Prodigy ($21.95/mth) to a smaller ISP that only charges $12.50/mth with no contracts. She actually liked the new provider better and it costs her about half as much. [Savings of $113.40 per year.]

(b) Renegotiate with your existing ISP. Most larger ISPs know you have a choice of a thousand other companies. Because of this, they are normally more than willing to renegotiate your costs. Be honest. Tell them you are a small business owner and you need to cut expenses. Explain that you've been pleased with their service but will be forced to go with someone else if some sort of arrangement isn't worked out. Another friend of mine did this and received 6 months free! Most will offer 2-3 months free and/or a discount with an annual agreement. NOTE: When you approach your ISP, be fully prepared to switch to someone else if your offer is rejected. [Savings of $105.80 per year with 3 months free and reduced, annual rate.]

2) Switch From A Merchant Account To A Payment Service - If you have a low volume of credit card transactions, it might benefit you to switch from a merchant account to some sort of payment service like Pay Pal or ClickBank. Statement fees, monthly fees, discount percentages and the like can all add up to big money.

While payment services normally have reduced fees, they do have higher "per transaction" costs so you'll have to do some math to find out if this is a good idea for your business. Just take an "average" invoice amount from a sale and multiply it times 12 to get a base total to work with. Now, add in your 12 months worth of fees for statement, monthly access, discount percentage, per transaction cost, etc. This is your "example" total. Do the same with several payment services using their costs to see which one, over time, would be less expensive for you.

If you were paying a $15 statement fee, $20 monthly fee, 3% + $.35 per transaction and $25 monthly gateway fee, your annual expenses would be $742.20 for an average transaction of $50.00. Your annual fees for a payment service with 3.5%, $1.00 per transaction and a one-time $50.00 set up charge would only be $83.00 per year. [Savings of $659.20 per year.]

3) Re-evaluate Your Long Distance Costs - Competition is the small business owner's friend! With hundreds of long distance companies out there, you can drastically reduce your charges instantly. Again - use the 'Net to search for inexpensive long distance service. A business owner I know changed from a MCI "program" to one of those 10-10 companies and reduced her per minute charge from $ .07 to $ .05. Depending on the volume of calls you make, some programs offer rates as low as $ .03 per minute. [Estimated savings of $20-$30 per year for 1,000 minutes.]

From just these three little things, we've saved an estimated $802.60 per year. That's enough to make anyone's spreadsheet sing! Go through your list of costs and you will most likely find other expenses that can easily be reduced with a bit of research and a phone call or two.

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com

FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful) Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane

recurring cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.