10 ways to reduce your business costs - British Business Bank (2024)

Instead of making a long-term commitment to rent office space, why not consider another arrangement?

Depending on the nature of your business, you could, for example:

  • downsize
  • seek a co-working arrangement
  • convert your business so that you and your employees work permanently from home.

In any case, given the current economic environment, you may be in a strong position when renegotiating rental arrangements with your landlord.

Having a budget that you keep to will not only help you impose some financial discipline on your business costs but allow you to benchmark those costs on an ongoing basis.

It should also let you highlight areas in which you can easily cut down on your spending.

For instance, should you consider doing away with documentation and paper-based processes altogether and moving everything to digital?

You need to make every pound count, so it’s important to market your business online.

It’s a relatively low-cost way to execute marketing campaigns you can measure and monitor.

You can also try out new formats and engage with customers via:

  • social media
  • blogs
  • vlogs (video blogs)

You can do most of this far more cheaply than you can with traditional marketing methods.

If you have good relationships with other small-business owners, it’s worthwhile collaborating so you can:

  • share equipment
  • bulk buy goods and materials
  • barter some services

For example, a PR company could provide free publicity to a retailer in return for discounted or free products.

There is a large and neglected talent pool among freelancers and part-time workers, especially those people in their 40s and 50s.

For a relatively cheap amount, you can find experienced, hardworking, and knowledgeable workers in this area.

They’re focused on delivering a service, not climbing the career ladder, and so should be fairly easy to direct.

If you automatically renew services – whether that’s business insurance, mobile phone contracts, or broadband contracts –you’re probably paying over the odds.

It’s always best to renegotiate each year to make sure you’re getting the best price.

Read our guide, 7 ways to reduce the cost of your business insurance

You can lose hundreds, even thousands, of pounds each year by going over your business credit card limit and being late with loan repayments.

By staying on top of bills and paying them on time, you can avoid such interest charges.

Keep a schedule and set up alerts to remind you when payments are due, automating as much of this process as you can.

Your bank should be able to offer you some advice on how you might reduce finance costs in your business.

As they deal with thousands of business customers, they will have gathered plenty of insights they can share.

In any case, it’s well worth trying to develop a deeper relationship with them, particularly if you’re having cashflow issues.

You should also try and make the most of your business bank account.

Be prepared to haggle hard every single day, without any embarrassment, with a smile and humility.

Street-savvy business nous never goes out of fashion and if you can develop it, you’ll survive in these most cut-throat of times.

Haggling should be something that eventually becomes second nature to you as a business owner.

You can benefit from a wide range of small-business tax reliefsLink opens in a new window.

If your business is involved in research and development, you could be eligible to claim the cost of your projects as tax reliefLink opens in a new window.

You could also qualify for small-business rate reliefLink opens in a new window on your property.

And there are tax-deductible expenses across a wide range of categories, from office supplies to vehicle fuel to marketing costs.

10 ways to reduce your business costs - British Business Bank (2024)

FAQs

Can you give 5 examples of techniques on how do you reduce company cost? ›

How to Cut Costs in Business
  • Reduce supply expenses. ...
  • Cut production costs. ...
  • Cut costs on financial accounts. ...
  • Modernize your marketing efforts. ...
  • Use efficient time strategies. ...
  • Cut costs with virtual technology. ...
  • Narrow your focus. ...
  • Make the most of your space.
Jun 9, 2023

How to reduce cost in the banking sector? ›

Invest in digital technology
  1. automate and optimise workflows.
  2. identify areas of revenue leakage.
  3. enable embedded finance and Banking as a Service (BaaS)
  4. facilitate product cross-selling and upselling.
  5. facilitate targeted marketing strategies.
  6. enable customer segmentation and personalisation.

How to minimise costs in a business? ›

10 ways to reduce your business costs
  1. Explore an alternative place of business.
  2. Draw up a budget and stick to it.
  3. Move marketing online.
  4. Pool your equipment with other businesses (or barter)
  5. Use part-time and freelance staff.
  6. Don't automatically renew premiums and services.
  7. Avoid unnecessary charges for finance.

How to control business expenses? ›

7 tips for reducing expenses in your business
  1. Make a plan. You need to evaluate where your business is now and where you want to take it in the future. ...
  2. Track expenses diligently. ...
  3. Benchmark against your industry. ...
  4. Manage variable costs. ...
  5. Get tough on fixed costs. ...
  6. Invest in technology. ...
  7. Offer incentives to staff.

What are the methods of cost reduction? ›

Some common cost reduction examples are: Reducing labour costs by automating routine tasks or by outsourcing non-core business functions. Bringing down office expenses, such as electricity bills, by opting for energy-saving technologies or scaling down on office space by offering remote working options.

What are the cost cutting exercises? ›

Cost cutting measures may include laying off employees, reducing employee pay, closing facilities, streamlining the supply chain, downsizing to a smaller office, or moving to a less expensive building or area, reducing or eliminating outside professional services, such as advertising agencies and contractors, etc.

How do banks help reduce transaction costs? ›

They do this through several mechanisms like credit checks, loan assurances, diversification of risk, and the spread of loans across multiple borrowers. Therefore, the connection between financial intermediaries and transaction costs is best perceived as an unending exercise in cost reduction.

How do banks lower their cost of funds? ›

Term funding schemes allow banks to borrow funding from the central bank at a low cost for an extended period. These schemes aim to lower banks' funding costs and provide funding that is stable, particularly in times of economic distress where the cash rate may have also reached its lowest practical level.

How can you maximize your services and minimize your fees at a bank? ›

Here are some proven tips:
  1. Utilize free checking and savings accounts. Many banks still offer them.
  2. Sign up for direct deposit. ...
  3. Keep a minimum balance. ...
  4. Keep multiple accounts at your bank. ...
  5. Use only your bank's ATMs. ...
  6. Don't spend more money than you have. ...
  7. Sign Up for Email or Text Alerts.

What is a cost reduction strategy? ›

Cost reduction is the process of decreasing a company's expenses to maximize profits. It involves identifying and removing expenditures that do not provide added value to customers while also optimizing processes to improve efficiency. Cost reduction typically focuses on generating short-term savings.

What are low cost strategies in business? ›

A pricing strategy in which a company offers a relatively low price to stimulate demand and gain market share.

How do I reduce my expenses? ›

7 effective tips for reducing your expenses
  1. Know where your money goes. Writing down what you spend for a week has been found to improve financial confidence. ...
  2. Create spending categories. ...
  3. Only spend on what matters most. ...
  4. Make the most of “monthlies” ...
  5. Eliminate impulse buys. ...
  6. Save on interest where you can. ...
  7. Consider deferment.

What are the 5 factors of cost control? ›

Cost control techniques are typically broken down into 5 steps which include:
  • Planning your budget.
  • Monitoring expenses.
  • Using change control systems.
  • Time management.
  • Tracking earned value.
Jul 15, 2023

What 3 things can you do to control costs? ›

Examples of types of cost control include:
  • Renegotiating contracts with more favorable terms.
  • Getting more competitive bids from different vendors.
  • Improving product quality to reduce rework and scrap.
  • Reducing the number of items carried in inventory.
  • Reducing employee expenses with better expense management.

What is cost saving in business? ›

Cost-saving is the financial objective to reduce the excess expenses that occur in any business. When you save costs in your business, you're cutting out the unwarranted and unexpected expenditures incurred for day-to-day business operations. Irrespective of your company size or industry, saving costs are essential.

What are cost techniques? ›

Costing techniques are methods for ascertaining cost-for-cost control and decision-making purposes. They can be applied to make-or-buy decisions, negotiation, price appraisal and assessing purchasing performance (Lysons & Farrington, 2006).

What strategies does the company use to minimize costs? ›

Examples of cost saving
  • Reduce spending. Identify which tools and resources are critical for your business and consider delaying the purchase of new items. ...
  • Avoid IT upgrades. ...
  • Invest in equipment. ...
  • Reconsider research and development. ...
  • Reduce travel. ...
  • Evaluate employee perks. ...
  • Check facility usage. ...
  • Reevaluate partnerships.
Mar 10, 2023

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