Living a frugal life is a popular current trend for many people who are looking to save money and protect the environment at the same time. However, these principles can also be transferred over to the world of business, and many of them can prove to be of benefit to your company.
So how exactly do you go about running a frugal business? Well, there are several different techniques that you can put into practice. It is these that we are going to discuss in the following blog post.
Outsource Wisely
Choosing an outsourcing company can end up being the financially prudent option in comparison to hiring a host of new employees who inevitably come along with all sorts of different overheads that have to be managed.
Of course, it is worth thinking carefully about which areas are going to be most beneficial to be outsourced. Perhaps inbound sales may be a good option as it will help to boost your bottom-line profits.
Alternatively, hiring a good accountancy firm can prove to be a good choice in saving your business cash and learning the best financial practices for your company.
If you think you’ll need some help in answering calls and emails, you can try Call Center Outsourcing to the Philippines and trust their expertise in customer service.
Go Paperless
Not only is going paperless good for your wallet, but it is also good for the environment as a whole. In this respect, it is the only sensible choice for a modern business.
After all, so many activities that required reams and reams of paper can now be done entirely in the digital sphere.
Instead of carrying a notepad around with you, a great alternative choice is to carry an iPad or a tablet of another description. The vast majority of the time, there is no need to print out any additional emails. Instead, they can all be kept in the digital sphere where they belong.
Use Free Apps and Programs
Anyone who runs a modern business will know that there are plenty of items of software that can prove to be useful in the successful running of it.
While there are plenty of paid apps and programs out there, there are also free ones that can prove useful in so many different ways.
Of course, you will need to do the proper amount of research to ensure that you choose the right apps and programs.
Not all of the free ones will be up to the standard that you would expect. However, you can get some that will take care of a wide range of different business aspects from calendars to accounting and billing.
Take Advantage of Digital Networking
One of the most important aspects of running a business in the early days is getting your name out there in the wider public. Networking events can prove to be hugely valuable in this regard.
However, many of them can end up causing a huge hit to your bank balance. Instead of going to expensive dinners, you can check out digital networking events instead that are advertised through the likes of Indeed.
It is worth choosing the events carefully to ensure that you pick the ones that are going to be most relevant to your business.
You don’t want to find yourself wasting your time. Remember, the key to great networking is persistence – ensuring that you put yourself out there again and again.
Use Digital Advertising
There are a couple of major advantages to digital marketing strategies. In the first instance, they can be highly targeted to ensure that you are hitting your precise demographic and general customer base.
Not only this, but they can also be highly affordable – and even free in some cases. Sure, you have to spend a great deal of time and effort building up your social media followers, but once you have them, you have a direct channel to communicate with them for free.
The same goes for search engine optimization. It is not at all easy to reach the top of the pile on Google, but once you get there, you will have a continuous stream of traffic to your site.
Embrace Remote Working
Over the past year in particular, there has been something of a remote working revolution. As well as being great for office workers in general, this can also be a trend that is beneficial to business owners.
This is largely down to the fact that you do not have to pay for all of the expensive overheads that inevitably come along with running an office space, such as utility bills and the like.
If you do need to build up that sense of teamworking, there are plenty of coworking spaces that allow for this – without the commitment needed to have a full office around the clock.
Reduce Your Travel Costs
In the modern world, with so many means of getting in touch with one another online, there is less and less of a need to go on expensive business trips that can be hugely damaging to your company finances.
On top of the cost of travel itself, you also have all sorts of other different expenses that you have to manage, including hotel costs, meals, drinks, and so on.
If you do have to travel, try to make the most of your trip by engaging with a few different clients in the same place or conducting any other business activities that you may need to engage in.
Learn to Negotiate
Some people do not feel all that comfortable with negotiation, but it can actually prove to be a highly valuable way of saving your business money here and there.
While they may only seem like small savings along the way, all of them can add up to be somewhat significant in the grand scheme of things.
By putting into practice all of these different aspects of running your business frugally, you can help to improve the general cashflow. As a result, this will allow you to channel your money into other useful areas that can help your business to develop.
Stay in touch
Hope this post inspires you and of course, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and add the hashtag #practicalfrugality so that I can see your post.
Or why not subscribe to my weekly newsletter with frugal living tips and recipes straight to your mailbox.
Magdalena
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