Competition is fiercer than ever, with most of it being just one mouse click away for most customers.
With that in mind, cutting expenses is crucial to stay competitive. Yet, most businesses still have lots of fat that can be cut in the office without reducing productivity or hurting morale. Here are six areas to target:
Review energy use. It costs around $39 per year to power a computer that is turned on 24 hours a day, and it costs $54 per year for a small monitor to stay on. Add $44 per year for a laser printer and the picture begins to become clear. By reviewing energy use, there are many energy costs that can be reduced.
Make hiring more efficient. Job applicants are applying for anything that is listed these days, even if they are not qualified. This costs more money in terms of HR resources. But one technique that can help ensure that applicants who apply are those who read the requirements is asking that applicants add a specific item in the subject line of their submission. This can be as simple as a keyword in the subject line they must use.
Use fax-over-IP (FoIP). Some businesses may want to ditch the fax, but that’s not a practical reality yet. What can be done is retrofitting existing fax machines using solutions such as that offered by AudioCodes’ (News - Alert) Fax ATA solution and pull those devices into the digital era. Digital faxes can improve efficiency and thereby drive down worker costs.
Leverage videoconferencing. There was a time when videoconferencing was expensive and hard to use. Those days are gone. There are both enterprise solutions and off-the-shelf consumer options such as Skype and Apple’s (News - Alert) Facetime that can make many business trips unnecessary. Videoconferencing can help a company save big.
Choose free software. While we’re not recommending that businesses replace Windows desktops with Linux (although it can be done!), there is a universe of free software that can replace many popular business software offerings without steep learning curves or headaches. Microsoft Office and Adobe (News - Alert) Acrobat are two software packages that businesses should eye when it comes to free software replacement.
Organize office space better. Office space does not usually come cheap, so using space is vital. One way to do that is through more space-efficient office furniture. A general office space rethink also can help; one firm I used to work with cut out an unused receptionist desk and thereby was able to fit more employees in the same space instead of moving to a larger office. Do the same.
Businesses can cut office expenses in many ways. Next week we’ll outline five more ways to cut costs.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson