Successful SMB owners are a hardy breed. The best owners are confident, persistent, goal-oriented, and passionate about the value their business delivers to their customers. They can adapt to changing market conditions and are known for their hard work. They know when to take a risk and when to hold back.
They do their best by actively managing their business and ensuring it is structural and financially sound. Active business management is table stakes during the best economic times; given our current market conditions, this can make or break the business’s financial health.
Employees are the lifeblood of your business; however, employee costs are often a heavy lift. Investigate different ways to improve productivity, reduce turnover and increase bottom line growth with these suggestions
By making remote or hybrid work permanent, the business can reduce office space costs and increase employee satisfaction and productivity.
Reviewing the compensation structure – particularly of sales teams – to include a more significant variable portion will incent the right sales behaviors and better align costs with revenues. Variable compensation creates more profound employee productivity and engagement and reduces employee turnover.
Evaluate employee benefits and perks to keep your employee satisfaction high (it is hard to hire qualified people during this “great resignation”) and ensure your costs are competitive and within your budget. Review employee benefits for cost increases and shop around to ensure you get the best deal. Think about employee perks that have the most impact on remote work, and flexible office hours top the list.
Consider freelancers for highly specialized or short-term projects. Freelancers often have the required skill set and can deliver much more quickly than a generalist. Hiring contract employees allows you to manage your labor costs more effectively.
Accounting and finance are the languages of business. If you haven’t already, consider these activities to keep your business running smoothly.
Manage your business – don’t let it manage you. Effective business management depends on understanding your finances’ ins and outs. Create an annual budget, including a sales forecast, expense budget, and cash flow plan.
Most SMBs incur debt to finance their operations.
Reduce interest paid on loans through consolidation and refinancing. Periodically review your financing options, including rates paid, and consolidate on lower rate options when you can.
Explore discounts for early payment (and avoid late fees.). Work with your suppliers to negotiate improved payment terms that can benefit your operations – and theirs.
There are many options available to manage your day-to-day costs.
Shop around for utilities – including using Wiresurfer for internet and telecommunication costs. Today businesses have many choices for utilities. Be sure to check out the options you have, the quality of the service, and the price.
The spike in energy costs has impacted us all. Explore ways to reduce all your energy costs, from encouraging more virtual calls to turning off unnecessary lights.
Reduce your company’s use of paper – or better yet, go paperless! Not only will this save you money, but it will also help the environment.
SMBs often think everything they need must be brand new. Consider using slightly used or secondhand equipment where it works for your business. Office furniture, computers, and peripherals can all be purchased from reputable sources – and have plenty of useful life left!
Evaluate software that can improve efficiency, including payroll, project management, or marketing automation platforms. Any of these platforms can reduce your teams’ hours on less valuable tasks – making them available for what you need them to do.
Keep on top of your software subscriptions, and make sure to downgrade or eliminate non-essential expenditures.
Consider using open-source software if it is right for your business. For example, G-suite is a significantly less expensive alternative to Microsoft Office and provides similar services.
Consistent marketing outreach builds brand engagement and fills empty sales funnels. Here are some areas to focus on to ensure you get the most from your marketing efforts.
Social media engagement is low to no cost and an excellent way to build brand awareness – and website traffic. You want to be where your prospects are, and they are on social edia platforms. When looking to buy, most prospects take to social media before engaging a salesperson. If your business doesn’t have a social media presence – with whom do you think the prospect is engaging? Your competition, perhaps?
Another low-cost way to drive brand preference is to encourage referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. Buyers look to people they know and trust for information. If your existing customers leave you a review, act as a case study, or tell their friends and family about your services, it is worth its weight in gold. Often customers don’t act as referrals because they weren’t asked. Be sure to ask after every successful customer engagement.
Keeping marketing costs in line requires reviewing ROI on all marketing initiatives. Keep track of your investment and the outcomes achieved – even if it’s a qualitative measure. The more you measure, the more you can refine your marketing investment to those items that matter most.
Wiresurfer enables businesses to search, find, and compare prices and speeds for internet and telecommunication services to ensure the best solution for their business simply and affordably. SMBs can compare multiple services from well-known, well-established providers in their location. Using the Wiresurfer platform, companies can find the best packages for their business at the best price without having to make dozens of calls or multiple carrier sales appointments. Best of all, through comparison offers and the ability to the best price available, Wiresurfer can save your business 35% off the cost of you doing it yourself.
Interested in learning more? Check out the Wiresurfer platform here.
September 11th, 2023
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