For many businesses, 2020 was a huge year of change due to the COVID 19 pandemic. With many businesses either sadly losing customers or even employees, 2021 will have to be a year of cost cutting for many business owners. Luckily, there are more than a few ways that you can cut your overheads and save some money in 2021.
Update your heating system
Just like inside your home, your office will need an efficient heating system. An efficient heating system will mean that there will be a lot less wasted energy and heat. Meaning less money wasted on heating bills. While most businesses now use a shared office space where heating is covered in rent, there are many who will still use buildings they own.
When it comes to making your heating system more efficient there is one key component, the boiler. Making sure that you have a modern and efficient boiler is vital to an efficient heating system. Modern boilers are often rated at around 94% energy efficiency, meaning that only 6% of all energy is lost or used to power it. Older boilers however can be as low as 60% depending on their age, which is a huge loss of all energy generated! If you are using a boiler older than 15 years, it will be time for a change. This change in wasted energy could see you save a few hundred each year. If you decide to go with a boiler replacement, make sure you use a reputable company, such as BOXT, or installer that are gas safe registered.
Software
The software that is used in offices can end up being a huge overhead cost for some companies. Whether it is a monthly subscription to software such as Microsoft Office or even antivirus software that keeps your company protected, it is nearly always needed. While this software is needed, you often do not need to be paying a monthly subscription for it. While it may seem like a lot more money, you can often make a onetime purchase of the software. Meaning that you will have unlimited access for each time you purchase it for a member of staff.
So, while it will cost a large upfront sum, in the long run, you will be saving money from not paying a set amount each month for each copy of the software. Even though you will be stuck with that current version of the software, companies only often release new versions of software every two to three years. However, over these two to three years you will save more than what the next licence fee will be. Make sure you do the research and maths yourself to see if you could save money with an outright purchase.
Go paperless
There are many benefits to going paperless, the main being the amount of money you will save each year. If you are still a business that relies on printing most of its documents for storage, then it is time to make a change. You will not only be spending hundreds each year on both paper and ink cartridges but will also be using a large amount of electricity by having your printer constantly running to print documents. Not only will you be saving money, but you are making your company greener by switching to a paperless solution. Which is a great point that you can make to any clients and on your site, which may even sway some clients to use your services.
The solution to going paperless is cloud storage. You can get a huge amount of storage on platforms such as OneDrive and Google Drive for a set fee per user each month or as one upfront payment per user for a year. You can also sometimes get this storage tied into a plan with other software these companies offer so make sure you check for these offers to save extra money!
Evaluate your office space
If you are in a shared office space or have been renting one for the last few years and throughout the pandemic, it may be time to evaluate this. Office spaces are great as they allow you to rent an office that is the perfect size for your business. They also often have the option to downsize or increase your office space depending on what is available.
Many people have been working from home during the COVID 19 pandemic and subsequently have not been using their office space. This may be the case for your business. However, if you have found that working from home has led to either the same business results or better, it may be time to downsize to a smaller office. Before you do this, however, make sure to check how your employees feel about this. A smaller office will mean less rent to pay, which is a great monthly saving.
If you have decided to go paperless and have scanned your documents onto your online storage, less space storage space will be needed. Which is another reason you may be able to move to a smaller workspace if your employees do not want to work solely from home.
Evaluate your phone and broadband contract
Broadband and phones are essential for communication with both customers and employees.
Depending on what is available in your businesses area, it may be worth contacting companies to see if they can integrate both your phone and broadband into one package. A great benefit of this will be that your technical support will come from the same company, which could save you time if there is ever an issue. These packages also often come with savings each month for using the same provider. Make sure to shop around before settling on a provider as each provider will charge both a different price and offer a different service.
Those are 5 ways that you can begin to cut overheads in 2021. There are many more ways that you can cut those pesky overheads. So, make sure that you continue to research and find ways to keep saving money!
