Four Ways Small Business Owners Can Save Money

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to cut costs in your business? Want to put more money into your pocket and not towards expenses? Are you looking for unique and out of the box ideas?

You’re in luck! We’re here to show you four ideas to save money as a small business owner. These methods can work for small businesses with physical locations or for small online businesses.

To save money with your business, you’re going to have to cut costs, get creative, and find alternative solutions. Using project management software for small businesses can help you organize workflows and reduce expenses.

Outsource Work to Independent Contractors

The first way to save money in your business is to cut employee costs. Employees can get expensive when you add up insurance, benefits, equipment, and office space.

Instead of hiring more employees to help with the workload, consider outsourcing. Outsourcing to independent contractors can save small businesses a lot of money.

This is because independent contractors only work as needed and are not required to receive overtime pay if they work over a certain amount of hours.

They are also responsible for their own insurance, equipment, and taxes.

Outsourcing benefits both parties because contractors are considered small businesses themselves, and a lot of contractors enjoy making their own hours, so they have the energy to get the job done right.

You can find independent contractors locally by looking through classifieds or by posting an ad. Independent contractors that can work online and remotely can be found by posting an ad to Upwork.

Are there any drawbacks to outsourcing? Well, you don’t have full control over the contractor.

You can’t lay them off and you don’t have the final say when they come to do the work. You are making a business transaction with another business. So, make sure the written agreement is to your liking. Make sure deadlines are clear.

Keeping your full-time staff as lean as possible is a great way to save money. Then if needed, outsource for work your staff cannot complete themselves.

Find Free or Cheap Alternative Solutions

The next way to save money in your business is to analyze every expense and find a free or cheaper alternative. Whenever you need to purchase something, take some time to research alternatives.

Office equipment like desks, shelves, and chairs can be found on Craigslist often. A lot of the time these items are listed as free because the owner is moving and needs to get rid of items fast.

Refurbished, second-hand equipment like phones and computers can work just as well for a fraction of the cost.

If you’re buying software for your computer to make your business run smoother, don’t unless it’s life-changing. There are thousands of free and open source software that work just as well as paid versions.

The free version may not have any support if you run into issues, but it can save your business hundred to thousands of dollars each year.

You can find free accounting software with Wave.

Google Docs and Sheets are a free alternative to Microsoft Word and Excel. And, you can use Photopea as a Photoshop alternative.

There are free and cheap alternatives out there if you're willing to search. A lot of them are the perfect solution, and they are free.

You can also repair or DIY things around the office on your own. You can search YouTube to help you make simple repairs with basic tools. Try to fix broken things yourself before calling in the professionals.

And then get creative with your needs. For example, photographers can create backdrops with solid color poster board instead of buying high-end backdrops.

Working your creativity can help you save money when you need to.

Use Automation to Save Time and Money

Another way to save money is to set up automation. Setting up automated systems for your business can save you a lot of time too.

For example, automating bills can save you money in late fees. Automating your accounting can save you money because you’re not relying on yourself to remember to input numbers.

The business tasks you can automate have endless possibilities. Here are some ideas:

• Automate marketing by scheduling out social media beforehand.
• Automate appointments with online booking software.
• Automate sales through an online sales funnel.
• Automate shipping with dropshipping.

You can save time and money by getting your business to run automatically. Here’s an article filled with ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

You can use online services like Zapier and IFTTT to connect different apps to have endless automation possibilities.

Automation saves you more money because if you can set up a system to do a task for you automatically, then you do not have to hire out that task.

Advertise with Free or Cheap Marketing

The last way to save money is to advertise with free or cheap solutions.

A lot of marketing is done on social media. Social media lets you get in touch with your customers directly and be able to interact with them in a personable way.

Instead of advertising campaigns that cost money, you can spend time creating content for social media. You can come out with great marketing that didn’t cost you a dime.

Don’t have the time to create content? You can still make marketing cheap by outsourcing this task to someone else, buying low-cost ads within the social media platforms or paying social media influencers to advocate for you.

Another way to have free marketing is by having a blog on your website. Writing in-depth, meaningful articles about your industry can bring in people through search engines.

If you use keywords like your location, you can target people who are searching for places in your area.

Writing blog posts can be free if you have the time. Or you can outsource this task as well.

All of this can be cheaper than a billboard.

Don’t forget to be creative. There are unique ways to market yourself offline. Here are some ideas:

• Leave a small flyer in books at your library. Choose books that are in your industry.
• Create chalk art on the sidewalk.
• Invite customers to take pictures and spread your business around. You can even have an Instagram photo booth inside your shop and a dedicated hashtag to use.
• Own a location on Snapchat or Instagram. When customers share on these platforms, they can share your business as their location. Snapchat even lets you upload custom filters for your customers nearby.
• Place a Geocache near your business. Geocaching is a worldwide scavenger hunt. You can place one near your business to get more traffic in your area.

A little creativity can cut advertising costs by a lot.

Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

When you need to cut back on expenses or are just looking to save money to bring in more profit, consider the tips above.

You can save a lot of money if you’re willing to step outside the box a little bit.

Hiring contractors instead of more employees can save you money in equipment and payroll. Independent contractors are a great benefit to have around when you need something done on a whim.

Setting up automated systems can save you money by having tasks you usually pay someone to do completed by a robot. Automation can save you a bunch of time so you can tend to other things and use your time more wisely.

The best way to save money is to stop making purchases at full-price. Finding a free or cheaper alternative to items, that you would otherwise have purchased at full price, will save you hundreds if not thousands every year.

And finding new and creative ways to market your business can cut down on advertising costs significantly. Look for used furniture, second-hand equipment and free software to use. Used, second-hand and refurbished items are all great to use while you’re saving money.

Not only will the above tips help you save money, but it can also get your creative juices flowing for other ways to cut costs in your business.