If you own or run a business, you know that part of the job is to keep yourself creative and efficient in the long run. However, as the business grows and deadlines pile up, you might lose focus on simple details that can help you make important savings. Optimizing the budget for the office space is one of those details that often gets overlooked.
1. Is Your Deal The Best Deal?
You might have picked up the best option when you first signed up for basic services, but don’t forget to check constantly on new offers. A good deal of gas and electricity providers can significantly lower your general and administrative expenses. Also, keep up with news about office spaces: the relocation of a company or the opening of a new business park can be your chance to obtain a better price for the workspace.
2. Personalize Working Arrangements for Employers
Proposing individual offers to every worker can be difficult to implement on a large scale, but small and medium business owners can cut down their necessary office space by letting part of the staff work from home. There are several programmes which allow video conferences for free, so you can stay in touch with remote employers while also reducing your company’s carbon footprint. Marketers, web developers, graphic designers, customer service representatives that deal with online clients can do their jobs just as well from home and giving them this opportunity can lower their fees and increase their loyalty to the company.
3. Share Your Space
How much of the rented or acquired space does your company really need? Are there any vacant desks, conference rooms that are never used, areas for relaxation that stay empty? Reorganize the working premises for your business and sublease the free space. Among your partners and clients might be a small company you could share your office with. Another solution is to rent the unused areas to freelancers.
4. Go Green
Including sustainability in your company’s policy will finally benefit the bottom line. Remind employees to switch off the lights when they leave a room, to shut down their computers and to unplug the devices when they leave work. Further on, set up special bins for recycling purposes: paper, printer cartridges, batteries, light bulbs, gadgets, and plastic can be taken to collection points and usually you’ll get something back for your effort. Office waste management might become mandatory in the future anyway, so implementing it on your own terms in advance is more cost-effective than being forced to do it in a short amount of time.
5. Keep It Digital
Make the most of Internet technology and give up to telephone systems, physical mail, and unnecessary business travel. Look for an Internet company which can sell you a voice-over IP phone system in order to replace your traditional phone line. Also, try to find providers that have an automatic bill payment system and implement one yourself if possible in order to avoid late payments.
Taking everything into account, gradually adopting small changes can help you keep the office costs to a minimum and use more money for development.
