Cut Costs, Not People at Your Small Business
April 13, 2009
Faced with the need to cut costs, businesses of all sizes regularly resort to “reducing headcount.” But unlike their counterparts at large, 
publicly listed companies, owners and managers of smaller businesses have much more than today’s share price to think about when they have to reduce costs.
For a small business, replacing experienced, talented individuals will be both costly and necessary in the longer term. So, how can they cut costs in the short term without compromising their long-term interests? Here are a few ideas from Earthtone, an online print marketplace that small businesses use to save money by comparing quotes from hundreds of independent printers before choosing the one best suited to their needs:
Enlist your team’s help.
Your team can help you make your business more efficient. Maybe your team has identified a bottleneck that the management hasn’t seen. Perhaps they know how other businesses are cutting costs. Everyone’s incentivized to help you make the savings needed to avoid lay-offs.
Shop around for big-ticket purchases.
Whether it’s insurance, business travel or printing essentials like your business cards or your company brochure, using comparison sites like CompareTheMarket, Expedia or Earthtone can help you find the same product at a better price.
Connect over the Web.
You can use the Internet to shrink the cost of long-distance business. Services like Skype and GoToMeeting let you meet “face-to-face” with your counterparts in other cities and countries at little or no cost.
Get your services on demand.
You can avoid costly investment in things like e-mail servers, high-spec printers or expensive software by tapping into “cloud” or “as a Service” solutions. Microsoft Office Live, Google Docs and others specialize in providing the resources businesses need while helping them avoid unnecessary upfront investment.
I have to agree with the article written and it is something that individuals who believe themselves to be business owners should look at seriously. To get rid of your top producers and managers who are bringing in large scale deals to get revenue in the door is just plain crazy and rather stupid, but again, I have personally witnessed a self-proclaimed business owner do so. Instead of listening to those around him who knew business practices, went to business school and had experience in small and large business practices, he listened to people who had no business giving advice and were only interested in making sure they made money off his time and energy. He knows who he is, but is too egotistic to realize what a mistake he made and is now paying for it dearly. What a shame.
Having just laid off several people, I was expecting a little more from this article besides “shop online” and “save money printing business cards”. Yet another lesson that while anyone can be a publisher, not all content is created equal.
These are just some suggestions on ways to cut costs, obviously there is a time when these types of money saving tips aren’t enough and more drastic measures must be taken. We would love to hear comment suggestions on other ways to cut costs, on how to avoid laying off workers, or just your experience on having to layoff several people. We want this site is a two way street; this is our journey to success, just like yours. Thank you, for taking the time to comment.
Torie