Top 5 ways small businesses can get more for less
We’re all looking to get more for less, especially as we feel the very real effects of inflation and costs of living on the rise. Those of us in business might feel inflation in a primary way (as stock becomes more expensive), but we’ll also see a delayed effect as our customers slowly feel the pinch, and have less money to spend with us. This can leave us looking for other ways to cut back on existing costs.
The idea of cost-cutting is one immediately fraught with worries, both situational and ethical. It’s worth looking into cuts you can make simply by switching existing costs around and hunting for deals in the right way. These things have very little impact on your business but might make all the difference.
Here are some ideas to save money on your business expenses.
1. Negotiate prices with suppliers and vendors
If you sell a product, one of your main costs is going to be purchasing the products wholesale from a manufacturer. Or if you’re the one making the products, you may need to purchase raw materials. One way or another, selling tangible goods means those goods are one of your biggest costs.
Doing what you can to cut these has the potential to free up a lot of cash. An internal review might be a good place to start. See if you have products that aren’t working, products you overbought, or even have a think about what your ‘shelves’ might be missing. Not repeating past errors is one of the most fulfilling ways to save money.
Then, have a chat with your main suppliers. There are various ways they can help you save more based on your purchases. If you have built up a good rapport with them over the months or years, they may just offer you a good deal, but even if they aren’t so forthcoming, there are things you can do. Ask them for a better price if you increase your purchase quantity. Such an offer can be hard for them to refuse since they can clear floor space in their warehouse and save on shipping by processing more items in one order.
You could also ask them what their current bestsellers are. While you must take what they say with a pinch of salt (after all, it’s tempting for them to list the stock that isn’t selling), if you start a dialog relaying your own experiences with similar products, they’ll know you’re not going to be hustled.
Bear in mind that they may well be facing increased cost and less demand as well, so be understanding if they can’t offer you much in the way of savings, and don’t burn bridges.
2. Transfer your domain and website
It’s an unavoidable cost. Need to trade online? You need a website, but do you need to be paying as much as you are?
The answer may well be no. At Namecheap, we’re well-known for our low prices and top customer service. Moving your domain could bring initial savings (if you do so in one of our frequent Transfer Sales), and you may also benefit from our always-low prices in the future.
Did you know that your domain renews as part of the transfer process as well? This means, in most cases, there is no actual cost for the transfer itself. It simply goes towards your next year of hosting — which will probably be cheaper than renewing at your current rate. Your remaining time is also carried over in almost all cases.
Most of your expenses will be in your hosting plan. You can save a lot of money by moving your site from one of those high-end platforms over to Namecheap. With Namecheap’s easy migration tools, you can move almost all sites built on WordPress, or that use cPanel, quite easily. When it comes to cPanel transfers, though, one of our experienced team members will assess this for you on a case-by-case basis just to make sure you don’t experience any issues. Take a look at our current transfer sale to see what you can save today.
3. Send computer services to the cloud, and your business to a shared workspace
Real estate is a premium. Traditionally, businesses owned or rented their own premises, but more and more, we’re seeing businesses share the same space. Even retail shops buddy up these days to share the costs of heating and electricity.
Presuming your business operates online, a shared working environment is an excellent way to save — if you aren’t already doing it. Shared spaces have boomed since the pandemic, when many companies realized their employees could successfully work from home without any loss of output. These days, many of these companies are shedding their old spaces but still need somewhere to hold certain meetings and the like. Relocating your business could save you one of your biggest fixed expenses —and help you avoid shedding staff.
There’s an unlikely parallel here with physical servers. Traditionally, companies had servers in-house that managed their site, or Intranets. These take up space and usually require dedicated staff to monitor and run them. If you’re still using physical servers and your own IT systems, consider switching to cloud servers. You’ll get increased reliability (as cloud services usually sync data to multiple locations), and you can save space and resources.
At Namecheap, you can get VPS Hosting, or even entire physical servers to yourself, which can be a worthy alternative to even the largest internal solutions.
4. Search for deals the right way
We all have that friend who won’t get their credit card out without looking for a coupon code. As tedious as it may be, it’s a great way of saving. Although not all codes work, there’s the sweet endorphin rush of success when the dollars drop off your total.
Build up a list of reliable voucher sites, or check whether your favorite stores have a page of their own dedicated to their current deals.
When it comes to subscriptions, getting the right deal initially is actually a relatively small part of getting long-term value for money.
Keep a close eye on the /yr and /mo indicators next to the prices to be sure you aren’t getting confused between the two. Some products might even be billed quarterly or biannually. These distinctions are never hidden but are easy to muddle when you’re comparing many providers at once. But mainly, look at the renewal price. How much will this be compared to other places?
5. Cut down on unnecessary expenses by doing more in-house
Small businesses can save money by cutting down on unnecessary expenses, such as subscriptions or memberships they no longer need. Review your expenses in a similar way to how you reviewed your buy strategy. See what’s extraneous, and you could even shop around. Find alternatives to your current subscriptions to professional services that are well-rated.
Our ever-expanding Business Toolkit is built for just that — to allow businesses to bring services like social media management, graphic design, review generation, and much more, in-house. These free and low-cost tools were designed to help businesses like yours lower their monthly outgoings. And that’s without even mentioning products like Private Email, which make incredibly low-cost alternatives to products like Outlook and G-Suite.
Take it one step at a time
It can be stressful looking for ways to reduce business costs. Going about things exactly as you were a year ago and (quite possibly) seeing only a downturn in revenue is dispiriting. But if it helps, it’s happening everywhere.
Going through not only your expenses, but your operations, one at a time, may not turn things around — external factors are incredibly difficult to compensate for — but it will set you in the right direction, and you’ll know you’ve done all you can — which will help you.
Taking full advantage of companies like Namecheap, which always provides you with industry-leading prices, is an easy way to start out on the right track.
