If you’re responsible for your company’s finances, then you’ll no doubt be constantly on the lookout for new ways to cut costs and improve profits. Unfortunately, as the invoices continue to drop into your inbox, the ongoing work demands often means proactively finding cost-effective alternatives to your current providers can be difficult. Thankfully, we’ve eased some of the pressure and compiled a list of tips, partners and tools we believe will help alleviate both workloads and expenditures.
Utility bills
Keeping an eye on utility bills is in the workplace is simple enough; they’ll be shared on a monthly basis and will provide a breakdown of costs. It’s often worth obtaining your previous year’s bills, so you can compare year-on-year and analyse whether there’s been a noticeable cost increase. In some instances, businesses have known to save £1,000s on annual bills, and because the packages are usually bespoke, there’s much more room for negotiation.
Obtaining a benchmark price through a comparison site such as Simply Switch will help to understand the market average. Once you’ve done that, it’s certainly worth calling different brokers to drive down the price further.
Review cashflow and unnecessary spending
Cashflow is your business’s ability to project the amount of money coming in and out. Remaining vigilant on cash will help to kerb any unnecessary spending as all payments and outgoings can be reviewed beforehand. It will raise awareness of any problems or cash shortfalls, which can be planned for and acted on in advance. An example of unnecessary spending can be looking closely at suppliers that you are paying to do similar services, simply cut one of the suppliers out and focus on the other.
Outsourcing and maximising staff
Hiring and firing can be amongst one of the most emotional and time-consuming business demands for both employees and employers. Not only does it require businesses to set aside large chunks of resource for finding the perfect candidate, the cost of continually hiring can be an unwelcome addition to your outgoings. If there are roles, which don’t require permanent attention such as marketing, IT and design then consider online freelance sites like Peopleperhour.com and Freelancer.com - they’re perfect for pulling in experts during your hour of need. Alternatively, local agencies are on-hand to provide a monthly allowance of support for your chosen requirement - often cheaper, require less management and have more flexible contracts than full-time staff.
Audit historical transactions
If your business regularly sends money overseas, then the likelihood is you’ll use the bank or a broker. The foreign exchange industry is unregulated and understanding the true cost of these payments can be difficult. Currency providers often boast ‘0% transfer fees’, and whilst it may appear there are no charges, the provider’s profit will be hidden within the rate. WhitesPay has its own Currency Review Tool in which we reveal how much your previous transactions cost. It’s a completely free service and you can uncover the cost in less than 30-seconds.
If you’d like to discuss our Currency Review Tool, visit the link here and speak with our management team via the online chat or call us on +44 (0) 333 9205920.
