Finding Ways to Save Money
Whether you own your own company, work for a small business or a large corporation, saving money is always on your to-do list. How do other companies do it? Below are some ideas that might get you thinking – and saving.

1.  Trying to get a jump on a slowing economy, one executive took a look at a year’s worth of the company’s utility bills. She saw that water costs had increased 50%, and gas and electricity were rising each month, too. Those increases clued her in to leaky pipes and inefficient lights. Basic repairs and adjustments lowered the water and gas bills immediately, and new lighting paid for itself in six months. She applied the same principle to other operational costs and ended up switching long-distance telephone companies and insurance providers, cutting 401(k) costs by 30%.

2.  You might expect a computer networking company to have the latest hi-tech everything, but gadgets are expensive. One entrepreneur had a workable but cheap system and a bare-bones office set up. Whenever his company installed a new computer system, he carted away the client's old system -- for a fee -- to his office. He took the same approach to keeping his technical staff up to speed. He either cajoled loaners from manufacturers or had the new equipment delivered to his office, where he and his staff held their own in-house training sessions before installing the system at the client's office.

3.  Another company, in an effort to do more recycling, saved more than $125,000 when it started shredding paper and reusing it as packing material in outgoing shipments. And before those sheets get shredded, most of them have been used at least twice, due to double-sided copying, a printer designated for first drafts, and notepads made from scrap paper. The company also decided to reuse incoming boxes in outgoing shipments. Since the boxes are often beat up, a note is included in each box explaining the company’s recycling policy.

4.  When this company’s annual growth decreased by nearly 50%, the owner decided to start asking his suppliers for helpful advice. Since he was unhappy with the cost of shipping products across country, he asked his suppliers about their strategies and learned that his freight could travel at a cheaper weight classification. He reduced his freight costs – a $700,000 annual expense – by 15%. He also comparison-shops among suppliers, scouring the Internet and buyer's guides for savings. One such expedition resulted in the company buying $10,000 worth of equipment to produce their own recycled containers for chemicals. The company made back the $10,000 in two months.

Whether you own your own company, work for a small business or a large corporation, saving money is always on your to-do list… So take a look around at the expenses your business incurs each day.