George S. May Business Blog

How to save money without cutting payroll

“A round of more than 15,000 layoffs announced Thursday by AT&T Inc., DuPont and Viacom Inc. suggests a yearlong wave of job cuts is accelerating, just as the government is expected to report a higher unemployment rate for November on Friday. Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group also announced 5,300 job cuts, although it’s unclear how many will be in the United States.” (aol news)

Another 20,000+ people without a job right before Christmas and it doesn’t stop there.

“Dallas-based AT&T plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. The nation’s biggest telecommunications company said the job cuts will begin this month and continue throughout 2009.” (aol)

With all the unfortunate news of unemployment I thought I would take a bit of time to highlight a couple of ways small business owners save through these tough economic times, without having to cut payroll.

Upgrade you’re Air Conditioning and invest in new window and door seals. It will be a bit of money up front, but trust me in the long run you will save far more than the investment costs. In an article in the Watertown Times, Paul and Frances Alberry, who own a bakery, admitted that after they replaced all the things mentioned above they began saving $500 dollars a month.

Not all business is good business. If it is only making a small profit it might not be worth it to keep it. For instance, if you own a restaurant that delivers, maybe decline orders that are, say, less than $25. Chances are you will be spending your profit on gas for orders under $25 anyway. Besides, if the patrons order is anywhere close to $25, more than likely they will throw in a cookie or something to make it their total pass the $25 mark.

Word of mouth won’t always work. Just because you have had a good product and built your business that way, doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for he business o keep coming to you. You should always be looking for new business. If you have an office supplies store, order a phone book from a different area code and hit up every business in there. You may get shut down much more than not, but in the end I guarantee you will come out with new clients.

Finally, seek to offer something that sets you apart from the pack. If you have a chiropractic office, offer a free massage before. The 15 minutes of extra work will go a long way. If you own a restaurant, do something special for young children’s birthdays, like give them a free sundae and have all the employees sign a birthday hat from the restaurant. Tiny gifts like that make people feel good and want to come back.  

More suggestions on ways for small business owners to save money? Please leave a comment below.

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