The less you spend, the more you earn!
As a home business owner, I’m always looking for money saving tips. The less money I spend on operating costs the more left over for me! Here are 10 money saving tips for your home business.
1. Piggyback promotions
• Include business information such as flyers or coupons with invoices or online newsletters. This is a great money saving tip that is also quick and easy to do. Remind your customers of your special deals right at the time that they have you in mind. Be sure to provide an easy way for them to pick up the phone or click the “Buy Now” button.
2. Save money with joint ventures
• Share mailing costs, distribution methods and contacts with other businesses in your area. Do a Google search for “home business + your town” to get lots of contacts.
3. Establish a referral marketing plan
• Exchange referral information with other businesses in your area. Ask your customers to participate in referral based sales – perhaps offer a discount for every five referrals they provide that result in additional sales.
4. Set up a Paypal business account to provide an easy way for customers to pay you online.
5. Cancel unneeded subscriptions
• Check your credit card statement to see what recurring subscriptions you are paying for. Cancel any that you are not using regularly.
• Cancel magazine subscriptions. You really don’t have time to read them, anyways, do you?
• Do you really need a land line, a fax line and a cell phone, or could just a cell phone do the trick? Do you even need the cell phone? Could an online phone service like Skype suffice? Big monthly savings opportunity here.
6. Cut back on office supplies and equipment
• Buy stamps for mailing instead of using a postal meter. Renting postal meters is expensive and unless you do mass mailings on a regular basis, is not cost efficient.
• Obtain free business forms online. The Internet has hundreds of sites that offer free, customizable forms for many universal transactions.
• Download free software before you purchase a program. Most software providers have trial versions available at no cost. Use caution when downloading from sites that do not display security locks on their pages.
• Buy used equipment. Attend auction sales or warehouses dedicated to selling refurbished computers, copiers, phones or other items. Often you can find items in extremely good condition at a fraction of the cost of new. Similarly, used office furniture outlets often have very good buys on gently used chairs, desks, etc. Check out online classifieds such as Kijiji and Craigslist, as well as the classified section of your local newspaper as well.
7. Review your insurance rates regularly
• Take a look at your insurance coverage instead of just automatically renewing it each year. Shop around when policies are up for renewal. But never cancel an insurance policy until you are absolutely certain new coverage is in place.
• Re-assess your medical insurance. Be sure you have up to date information on past claims payouts as well as the loss ratio of paid claims to premiums.
• Raise your deductible. This will result in premium reduction , which can provide substantial savings over time.
8. Watch your credit
• Do credit card comparisons, especially if you maintain unpaid balances. Shop around for the best interest rate.
• If you pay balances off monthly (and we hope you do!), look for a card that has no annual fee.
• Avoid cash advances. Interest charges on cash advances are higher and are calculated from the moment you access funds.
9. Take advantage of all tax breaks
• If you operate your business from your home, deduct items such as mortgage interest, utilities, home maintenance expenses, lawn care and house cleaning services.
• If you travel for business, save all fuel and food receipts.
10. Cut utility costs
• Ask utility providers if they have a special rate available for businesses.
• Comparison shop for a telephone service provider.
What’s your most creative money saving tip for home business? Please share in the comments section below. Thanks!
This article is intended for information purposes only and should not be construed as legal or financial advice.
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