The first year is tough for most businesses. There’s so much to do and often not enough time or people get things running as smoothly as you want them to be. And that’s without talking about the price of everything.
Streamlining your company is a great way to help bring costs low. It helps you work smarter, faster, and cheaper.
This article picks out three great ways that you can achieve this for your business. Read it in detail, understand how these things can help, and then put them into practice ASAP.
Reduce your travel costs by using fuel cards
Travel expenses are many and varied. They cover visiting clients, delivering goods, simply getting to work, and more. All of these costs add up and can be a lot for your business to cover. Thankfully, you can reduce some of these by using fuel cards.
Many fuel cards give you access to cheaper fuel. So, streamlining your operations by adding them to the way you operate can save you money on diesel and petrol.
But that’s not the only way fuel cards can reduce your travel costs. They also create electronic, HMRC approved invoices. This means you not only streamline your fuel costs, but that you do the same for your fuel associated tax rebates.
There are many great fuel cards out there, such as European Diesel Cards. The EDC fuel card is a good fit for businesses that operate HGVs, but if that’s not relevant to you then there are lots of other options. Using a comparison website is a great way to find the right option for you, as it lets you enter your requirements and find the card that meets these.
Keep overhead costs down with remote working
Few things cost more money than office spaces and their associated costs. There’s rent, electricity, and furniture, and plenty of other things. Working remotely can reduce all of these.
There are a number of reasons that streamlining your businesses by promoting remote working reduces cots. There’s a reduction in office rent. You use less electricity. You may also not have to buy furniture.
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with remote working. It requires you to spend time planning and managing the process, deciding what you need to do in the office and then overseeing your staff.
Start by establishing what can be done away from the office. Perhaps, you could simply have a small office for client meetings. Then put in place a robust system for looking after and managing your workers. Do these two things and you’ll be able to use remote working and save some cash during your first year.
Be more efficient by using time-tracking software
Time is the enemy of every business, particularly your first year – you battle against the clock to secure, retain, and upsell business. You can give yourself a little more time by streamlining the way you work. How? With time-tracking software.
The beauty of time-tracking software is that it lets you plan out projects and tasks, then review them to see how long they’ve taken to complete.
You can then use this data to establish if you’re charging the right amount for your work and if you and your worker’s time is being correctly assigned. Not only will this save you on costs by reducing the time you spend on tasks, but it could also make you money if it justifies an increase in your rates.
There are lots of excellent examples of time-tracking software, including HourStack. Hourstack is a great choice if you like to plan your work out in blocks, but there are other tools if you work in a different way. Check out some online reviews of these tools to help you decide which one is best for you.
Recommended reading: Five Ways to Make Working from Home Work for You
Reducing your travel expenses, introducing remote working, and using time-tracking software are all great ways to reduce costs during your first year of business.
You’ll have your own ideas about which ones are most immediately relevant to your company but the main point is that you put them into practice.
So, start now by planning out how to use them before you then introduce them.
