Depending on your point of view, your company’s internal costs can be a minor nuisance or the bane of your existence. It’s a real balancing act to figure out just how to maintain a high level of service that’s also financially sustainable. Luckily, there are a number of ways to cut costs while maintaining the quality your client base deserves.
The Prime Cut
What some business owners don’t realize is that there are a lot of money-saving techniques that won’t directly affect the quality of your product or service. For example, if your company is developing a new type of envelope adhesive, don’t look to the R&D department to make cuts. Instead, put your traveling sales reps up at a Super 8 instead of the Hilton. This cost-saving measure isn’t likely to directly affect the quality of your new adhesive.
You also don’t have to make drastic changes in where you’re already buying supplies. A lot of the time, you can negotiate shipping prices with vendors your company is already using, or go in on a group discount program to help reduce your overhead. Your business can join buying networks for things as diverse as travel costs and office supplies, usually without changing vendors and always without directly affecting the quality of whatever your business showcases.
Specific Tools You Can Use
There are three specific money-saving programs I recommend:
* It sets you up with a Business Solutions Consultant to cater to the specifics of your orders.
* Your business can save up to 85 percent on more than 75 of the things you use most frequently, and up to 50 percent on about 10,000 other items.
* When you spend more than $50, you get free next-day delivery.
Office Depot’s is a viable (and valuable!) rewards program, and most businesses find the Business Solutions Consultant to be a really helpful perk. It’s tailor-made ordering at its most helpful.
* An account with this program saves you up to 28 percent.
* You get a discount each time you ship, so the more you ship, the more you save.
* You can order shipping supplies, print labels, and schedule pickups, all through an online account.
UPS’ discount program is a perfect fit for businesses that do a lot of shipping. It may not seem like an enormous amount of savings at first glance, but a penny here and a penny there don’t take too long to add up.
* This program is geared toward small- to medium-sized businesses.
* You can earn free Hertz car rentals and other discounts.
* When you sign up, your business is permanently linked to pricing discounts, including up to 20 percent off every rental.
I’ve found that Hertz greatly values its business customers by making renting a vehicle incredibly easy and ensuring that clients always get the best deal possible. Hertz is sometimes used so often by a business that it can earn free rental days, which are great perks for hard-working employees when they’re on vacation.
If we momentarily jump back to our friendly envelope adhesive, the purchase of office supplies, the shipping aspect, or the car rental service are unlikely to affect the quality or the sale of the sticky substance. These are all safe and effective ways to reduce your overhead while leaving the quality of your product intact.
Whether it’s running your back office, shipping your product, or paying for airfare, restaurants, pencils, or hotels, there’s usually some sort of cost-effective program that helps your business reap benefits without carrying through to your main product. Find a way to cut costs without cutting into your bottom line, and your path to success will be paved for you.
Jack J. Bergman is the President of Allied Business Network,a business membership program that offers small- and medium-sized businesses discounts on items that they use every day. Jack is a business thought leader and brings businesses together with abnsave.com, smartbizsavings.com, and businessadvantageplus.com. He welcomes anyone to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+.
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