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Running a small business is tough in a world filled with special incentives and “too big to fail.” The good news is that there are a variety of ways business owners, large and small, can pinch pennies, cut down on expenses, and balance their budgets. There are cents to be saved on the utility tax in Indiana and on employee perks. It just takes a little research, the occasional assist from a consultant or professional, and creative thinking. Here is a list of ways business owners can save money and add profit to their bottom lines. Seek Incentives Indiana and a number of states offer incentives to businesses that use utilities to manufacture goods. Other incentives grant commercial business owners energy tax credits for installing renewable energy systems. For example, an Indiana business owner could receive a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost of installing solar panel or solar thermal systems. These incentives can save business owners thousands of dollars over time. Barter for Goods and Services When you’re running a small business, it’s not unusual for cash to run short just when bills come due. If your operating cash is running on empty, consider bartering with other small businesses to get the services you need. For example, the owner of a newspaper may barter with the owner of an office supply store. The newspaper owner could exchange advertising and marketing space and services in exchange for office supplies. Utilize the Cloud There’s no need to keep costly computer software and technology storage on site. Frugal business owners know it’s easier and less expensive to utilize a cloud storage system than it is to network machines and store data locally. Encourage Telecommuting Why pay for additional overhead of large office space when your workers can be just as productive working from their home offices? Penn State University researchers reported in 2013 that telecommuting boosts productivity, job satisfaction, and performance. Not every business can offer this option, and not every employee will flourish under these conditions. However, researchers showed that when given the option, about half of employees would choose to telecommute. That could translate into a lot of space and monetary savings, and as an added bonus, offering this option reduces turnover and positively affects office relationships. Trim the Work Week If offering telecommuting solutions won’t work for your business, consider trimming the work week. If you can staff a building or production four-days per week instead of five, you’ll realize utility and operations savings. This doesn’t necessarily mean shaving work hours, though it could. Limit Meetings Anyone who has ever attended a corporate meeting knows just how much of a time and productivity suck these can be. You can add to your bottom line by increasing productivity, and you can increase productivity by cutting out activities that don’t serve your bottom line. Meetings may still be required, but they don’t have to take employees away from their work. Hire Interns Using college students to do some work, like social media marketing and answering phones, can save a ton on fulltime salaries. Using interns is also a good way to cut down on some office space expenses. An intern doesn’t need a permanent work space. As an added bonus, using interns is a great way to recruit future employees. Reward Talent In a perfect world, every employee would receive a large raise every year. In reality, that’s not always possible. However, you can still reward staff without adding exponentially to your annual budget. Offer bonuses and incentives to employees that add to the bottom line as often as you can. Recruiting and training new staff is costly and should be avoided when possible. Keeping employees happy will help you maintain a quality, experienced staff. When times are tough, business owners must look at every option to save pennies. Whether that’s saving a shiny Lincoln penny through an incentive for utility tax in Indiana or bartering for goods and services, those pennies turn into dollars.
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