Lean and Mean: 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Cut Costs
Although vaccination efforts are now underway across the world, many aspects of human society will never remain the same. The pandemic has affected almost every facet of your day-to-day life, and small business owners are among those who have been most affected.
Hundreds of thousands of businesses have had to shut down or drastically reduce their operations to stay open. And despite the promises of a post-pandemic world, almost all of them may never recover.
Expert analysis of data on business closures revealed that only approximately 3 percent of businesses that have closed will open their doors once more. Majority of these businesses are small enterprises who will have a hard time restructuring their finances and reorganizing their operations.
You have multiple strategies toemploy to ensure your company remains in business. One such strategy is to trim down your expenses, which will let you funnel resources to running your business.
Here are five ways to cut down your small business’s operational costs.
Outsource Jobs
Many parts of your small business’s operations don’t actually require a full-time employee to accomplish. Go over your entire operational structure and determine which tasks can be outsourced. These tasks are often those that don’t need to be done every day and require complex training, training that your employees may not the time or bandwidth to receive.
For example, many companies rely onaccountants for small businesses to ensure their finances and paperwork are in order. Other businesses outsource their website management and design, freeing up valuable man-hoursfor work more relevant to their enterprise.
Reconsider Your Office Space
One of the primary reasons many small businesses shuttered their doors was to avoid paying expensive rental feels on commercial property. If you want to trim down your business costs significantly, you should look for a way to decrease the amount you pay for office space. Renegotiate the terms of your lease with your landlord or find less expensive commercial space.
Maybe you can even forgo having an office space. For example, if you’re running a business that sells natural preservatives for cosmetics, you may not need a full office. Perhaps you can get by with some storage space and manage your enterprise from home instead.
Reduce Non-Essential Perks
Employee perks help brighten up the mood, but collectively they can be a massive drain on your finances. All those fresh fruits, bottled water and similar perks can be making up a significant portion of your business’s expenses. Take a look at the various employee perks your small business is doling out and take note of how much they cost every week or month.
Next, discuss these reductions in perks with your employees. Which perks are they most willing to let go? Which ones can they live without? Bringing in your employees to gauge their reactions to such perk reduction is important because the purpose of these perks is to retain them. Their input and opinion in which ones they’re willing to lose is vital.
Renegotiate Employee Benefits
Yet another sacrifice you may have to make is reduce or renegotiate employee benefits, such as health insurance, allowances and similar things. It’s even more vital that you bring in your employees to discuss such reductions because it will have long-term effects on their well-being. Rather than cut them out outright, find ways you can reduce your expenses on these benefits.
For example, talk to your health insurance provider and discuss if there is a less expensive plan you can put your employees on. Look over employee allowances and calculate what would be an acceptable reduction. Maybe just reducing such allowances by 15 percent would be enough to make a difference in your budget. But never forget to inform employees on such cuts and alterations, so you retain their trust.
Go Digital
You can save substantially by embracing digitization. For example, increasing your use of electronic media and documents can mean you won’t have to buy as many office supplies like paper and printers. Streamlining your operations by incorporating more digital processes can be key in reducing associated costs. Sticking to virtual meetings and increasing your use of similar media will not only keep employees safe but decrease travel costs, like gasoline and parking.
Your small business requires sacrifices and now more than ever, you need to be smart about which sacrifices you’re going to make. These tips will help you keep your doors open and your business profitable through the uncertain times ahead.
How to Start and Grow Your Line Painting Business in 2021
The line painting industry is one of the most underrated industries in the US. There isn’t even an estimated market value for it as of this time. Currently, it is integrated with the traffic road marking coating industry which is estimated to be at $4 billion and expected to grow by 6% in the next few years. It is a sizable industry, but you have to note that line painting is a service that only takes up a portion of the market.
Despite its small size, it’s an essential business for many industries out there, like real estate. If you’re planning to start a quick and easy business that can give you an opening to expand and grow to other sectors like the construction industry, then the line painting business is for you. Here is how you can start a line painting business this year.
Cost of a Line Painting Business
A line painting business has a meager overhead cost when compared to other businesses out there. It’s estimated that you only have to spend between $2,000 to $10,000 to start this particular business. If you compare it to the overhead cost of other businesses out there, you’ll see that this investment is among the cheapest in the market.
Once you get started, you’ll see that line painting is not only meant for roads. There are other industries out there that require line painting, such as the sports industry. You’ll be asked to mark football fields or basketball courts. Your business might also be called to mark parking lots and other properties out there. It is a diverse business model that you can run inside your home, which means you don’t need to rent an office.
You also don’t need to hire full-time employees. You can hire freelancers who are willing to do the job for you. If you want to save up, you can always do the jobs yourself, given that you have the right equipment for the job.
Buy High-quality and Modern Equipment
Your investments will go primarily to the equipment you’ll be using for the job. Since you rely so much on the equipment, you should invest in the best in the market.
As stated earlier, it’s quite cheap to start a line marking business. However, you’d want to have the best equipment for the job if you want to be ahead of the competition. For example, using reflective road marking paint can be a worthwhile investment because they last longer, even on roads that receive a ton of traffic. The less likely it fades away, the less time you have to spend to maintain it. This gives you more time for other jobs out there. Another example is using a modern paint-striping machine. Old paint striping machines can be very inefficient and hazardous to your health because of their fumes.
Using a more modern paint-striping machine can cut down the time you have to do a job, and it can be much safer to use. You can also invest more into a heavy-duty paint striping machine once your business takes off. This ensures that you’re ready for highways. These are usually jobs given by the government.
Having the best-quality equipment can open you up to more jobs in the industry. The more jobs you take, the more income you generate. This will help you grow your company in the future.
Partner with Local Businesses
As a line painting business, you’d want to partner up with real estate developers and construction businesses in your city. Tell them that you can do line painting jobs for them at a much lower price. Since you’ll be doing these jobs in bulk, you can get a much higher profit margin, even if you offer your services cheap. Additionally, by partnering up with local businesses, you can ensure that you have jobs for the entire quarter.
Be Aware of COvID-19 Protocols
Lastly, you must be aware of the construction protocols during the pandemic. The line painting business is widely associated with construction, so those are the protocols you’ll be following, and you can find them here. The pandemic has only affected line marking businesses last year. Now, line marking jobs are everywhere as the economy tried to catch up on real estate development projects on hold last year.
Starting a line marking business during the pandemic is quite easy compared to starting other businesses out there. Just be aware of the protocols and how much you have to spend to start your business. The rest of the work is finding the job you need to grow your company. Eventually, you can expand to other industries out there, like the construction industry.
The Future of Shopping: How Going Online Affects Retail Stores
The predictions regarding the future of shopping have long been talked about. A few years ago, numerous speculations from experts and analysts were all over how technology would change and affect our lives – and they weren’t wrong.
Today, we enjoy the many benefits, convenience, and opportunities that these innovations have brought us. But along with it, challenges and social changes are expected, especially for entrepreneurs. The correlation between the tools that we use and our social structures forces our society to adjust accordingly.
The Internet is no exception. The huge impact it has brought has changed the game for brick-and-mortar stores since online shopping became possible. Sadly, most of these physical stores became one of the many casualties when the coronavirus hit worldwide.
Thus, online shopping swiftly earned its sweet spot as the most popular online activity globally.
Thelatest survey from PYMNTSfound that 35.7% of consumers in the U.S. prefer buying retail items online. A separate studyinvolving 3,700 respondents from emerging and developed countries found that more than half of them now shop online more frequently compared to the past years.
The Fight to Go Online
Online shopping isn’t new to the pre-pandemic world. The rise of online retail giants worldwide has made it possible for anyone to order items of their liking anytime, anywhere, and even have them delivered on their doorsteps the same day without hassle and stress. The implementation of a worldwide lockdown and limited movements intensified the joy and ease of having to scroll over our favorite online shop.
The increased appetite for consumers to purchase online continues to spike, especially for essentials, food, and so on. Thus, the need for businesses to adapt is inevitable, forcing most retail stores to switch or branch out online to cater to the growing demand and up their game.
Online Selling versus Physical Stores
The reasons many customers and sellers prefer purchasing and selling their items online seem endless. The convenience of surfing over the internet to find what you’re looking for and even scoring great deals, discounts, coupons, and loyalty points saves so much time and money for the consumer compared to their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
With the ongoing digitalization of modern life, multiple payment methods and options to cater to each consumer’s need have greatly influenced their purchase decision. Each one suits their needs, giving the buyers the freedom to explore their options and score the best deal.
From traditional cash to credit/debit cards and bank transfers, people can now seamlessly and securely enjoy paying through their prepaid cards, e-wallets, points earned,cash-on-delivery service, and even cryptocurrencies.
Of course, it’s not a one-way street. Sellers also enjoy the benefits from online selling in terms of low cost on rent and premises, getting more traffic, getting consumer data insights, and whatnot.
However, despite its convenience, online shopping still has its downside. The joy of physically seeing, touching, and even smelling the item you’re buying is something online shopping cannot offer. One good example is the fashion and textile industries. Most people still think that trying the items on and inspecting the look and feel of it when worn will convince them to buy the item.
It’s the same with other things that people try to buy online. Some find it hard to see if the items are legitimate or authentic. Luckily, thiscan be preventedusing the right tools, research, and guide.
The Future of Shopping
The buying pattern for most customers today has drastically changed over the past few years. Though many prefer going to physical stores, comparing prices online and getting the same item at a much lower price still earns the consumer’s preference at the end of the day.
This is not to declare that physical stores are on the brink of extinction. But to remain on the game, a business must adapt. From cassettes and mp3’s to digital music, it seems we haven’t seen the end of the tunnel for the evolution trail on businesses yet. Thus, learning to swim with the tide is crucial.
Physical stores may be behind, but most of them have already cemented their place in the industry and have earned trust and credibility, which is a huge edge for their competitors. On the other hand, the convenience and growing demand that online shops have on people continue and shouldn’t be ignored.
Undoubtedly, both will have a huge impact on the existing retail infrastructure. Some will fail, some will grow, and some will spring up from continuous innovation. But one thing is for sure, none of them are going anywhere.
How Small Businesses Can Remain Relevant After COVID-19
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic quickly evolved from a temporary arrangement into a long-term reality. From households to businesses, no party was untouched by the virus’s overwhelming effects.
Small businesses, in particular, struggled to cope. 88% of small business owners in the U.S.exhausted their Paycheck Protection Program loan, according to the10,000 Small Businessesreport by Goldman Sachs.
With vaccinations paving the way for economic recovery, small businesses are also set to experience improved conditions as the year progresses. The pace of economic growth, however, remainshinged on the speed of the rollout.
Keeping these in mind, it is apparent that small businesses still have opportunities to expand during this season. Like the previous year, growth will rely on making strategic moves relevant to the post-pandemic consumer.
Improve Your eCommerce Processes
The pandemic has further emphasized the importance of going online in reaching consumers. Businesses that give way for accessible and efficient online transactions are at an advantage.
Payment options also matter to customers. Cater to the varying preferences of each customer by making card and cash payments available. Consider options for gift giving by allowing customers to pay viacash remittance services, especially if the buyer is overseas.
Pay attention to product packaging, too. Design them in such a way that reflects the core of your business while keeping in mind that consumers are growing morepartial toward eco-friendly products. Wrap products well and work with reliable shipping services to ensure orders do not become damaged in transit.
In addition to versatile payment options, improving eCommerce processes also includes having an easily navigable user interface for your website. Have a clean, straightforward design that shows all pertinent information about a product. Go further by including customer ratings and reviews and further recommendations when visitors are viewing particular products.
Ramp up Your Digital Marketing
Aside from having a strong eCommerce site, your business should also be visible to consumers on social media. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, with upwards of two billion active users monthly. Your small business can reach a larger audience through this channel.
When choosing the platforms where you want to promote your business, go with those that your consumers use often. Once you have determined these, tailor your content to fit each channel. For instance, Instagram is heavy on visuals, so you need to prepare appealing photos and videos for posting on your feed and as stories.
Advertising on these channels will also help your business reach the particular audiences that you want to reach. Review the kinds of content that receive significantly more engagement on your pages and base your future boosted posts on these. High-performing content reveals what your audience prefers to see from your page.
Be Available for Your Customers
Hand in hand with marketing efforts is proactively making your availability known to customers. This includes supplying quick responses to customer queries from your communication channels. Chatbots are helpful for these, as they can provide responses to simple questions while giving more time for customer representatives to reach out.
It also pays to be sensitive to their concerns. Make a habit of studying the behavior of your customers and taking comments and suggestions from them. Knowing these allows your business to reassess its product quality, relevance, and accessibility and respond accordingly.
Despite vaccinations, customers will remain conscious of their safety in the future. Show and explain your COVID-19 guidelines and protocols to your customer base to reassure them of your products’ quality and cleanliness.
Take Care of Your Employees
Small businesses should not only gear themselves toward capturing a wider consumer base. Extend your efforts from external matters to internal concerns, too, to operate efficiently during an economic crisis. Afterward, employees must remain productive.
Research from Saïd Business School of Oxford University shows that employees who arehappy are 13% more productivethan those who are not. In their study, satisfied workers made more calls and were able to make more sales.
It showed, then, that productivity is not tied to increased work hours. Rather, workers who are content can accomplish more within the time frame provided to them.
Businesses that want to perform well must not only focus their efforts on their customers. They must also ensure employee satisfaction.
Have Realistic Expectations
While businesses are always seeking to innovate and grow, times of crisis have interrupted these goals temporarily. Having a big long-term vision does not have to change. For the time being, however, working within an adjusted budget and empathizing with customers and employees come first.
Creating a Recession-proof Business: How You Can Do It
For the past years, there have been a lot of discussions about a new recession taking place. The topic is even more intensified due to the spread of the coronavirus, leading to a great economic uncertainty affecting both small and big businesses all over the globe. Since last year, many individual workers have been laid off from their jobs, and businesses of all kinds were forced to close down.
In a nutshell, recession refers to the decline in economic activity due to a significant drop in spending. If you’re worried about your business’ stand during such times, it’s never too late to carry out some recession-proof strategies. Learn what you can do to increase your chances of riding out a possible economic storm.
Master cash flow management
Cash flow is what keeps a business alive. To achieve good financial health for your company, it’s your job to ensure the money is outflowing and inflowing continuously. And obviously, you also need to make sure that you are bringing in more money than shelling out.
Cash flow management encompasses several strategies and practices that you must learn to master to track and improve your company’s finances properly. These may include building an emergency cash reserve, setting invoice terms and timelines, encouraging early and easy payments, and driving sales with promotions and incentives. Moreover, you should ensure that every cash flow projection is accurate, from the dates to the knowledge of upcoming cash outlays. And for the last tip, do not overspend in certain areas of your business.
Focus on your customers
In these uncertain times, you must be laser-focused when it comes to your customers. Understand the current needs of your customers or reconnect with them. If you’re a business in the financial industry or an insurance agency, it’ll be useful to obtain a skip trace investigation service if you need help finding or contacting your clients. Aside from that, you can also carry out a precisely targeted and well-designed survey to gather insights about any changes in your customers’ purchasing behavior.
Following that, think about how you can generate more sales opportunities from your loyal customers. Do you need to make adjustments to your products and services to match their needs better? What about providing your customers with well-designed incentive programs?
Bring in multiple revenue streams
Another effective way to make your business recession-resistant is to build multiple revenue streams. Doing so clearly allows you to maintain your income and stay flexible, preserving your business no matter what the economy is. It’s advisable to have at least seven revenue streams. To start, take inventory of your current products and services already doing great in the market.
After that, plan the need to create blueprints and resources for your customers and diversify or innovate your current offerings. Furthermore, in creating multiple revenue streams,it’s best to take a user-centric approach to avoid wasting too much time. Lastly, be sure to keep at least one revenue stream without your own control. Don’t rely on others’ performance of offerings to succeed. That one revenue stream you have full control over is your real money maker.
Design the business to sell it
Regardless if you’re starting a small business or already running one, it’s always necessary to build it with the intent of selling. Now, that does not mean you will really need to sell it. This means that you need to successfully run the company in a way that doesn’t revolve entirely around you. A good professional and entrepreneur know that it’s essential to pay attention to your business processes and systems and whom you serve. It would be best if you also focused on what an outside investor would want to see in a business.
To give you a clear idea, would-be acquirers look for businesses with pristine and wholly transparent financial statements, had developed proven work systems, and operated with minimum wasted resources or motion. Most importantly, it is crucial to building a business with individuals or members who think and work like actual company owners. A successful company is made up of people who share in the rewards yet always take responsibility for the performance of the company.
While economic recession can be very alarming, know that you can always find ways to minimize, if not eliminate, its negative impact on your business. And during these uncertain times, there are still opportunities that can help you survive with your employees. Follow our tips and start building a recession-resistant business right now.
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