How to Grow Your Business While Keeping Recurring Costs in Check

Recurring expenses are costs from various activities which a business needs to bear at regular intervals. While these costs can be reduced, they cannot be eliminated, as they are integral to the functioning of the business. This article covers recurring expenses incurred by businesses and how to keep them in check.

Office Space

Leasing office space is a common expense incurred by small businesses. But, in addition to rent, you’re expected to pay for utilities such as electricity, internet, water, and maintenance. An effective way to reduce office-related costs is to shift your operations to a co-working space where you can work under a pay-as-you-use model.  There are many shared co-op spaces and opportunities like that in small communities like Olcott, NY.  If applicable, it is also worth mentioning trade and craft shows, and other spaces that you don't have to pay much if anything to utilize as a sales or office space. Towns also have Chambers of Commerce that offer many free resources to business owners or those looking to start a new business sometimes even including free internet and office use.

Office Supplies

As reported by GreedHead, businesses with less than four employees spend $92/month per employee on supplies. Opting to work in a co-working space will help reduce this cost as well, as you’ll get access to printers, scanners, and stationery which will be included in your fees. You can also take advantage of creating business accounts with retailers to obtain product category or volume-based discounts.  Amazon offers a subscribe and save purchasing option to save on supplies you are using on a regular basis and they also offer business accounts as well.

Software Subscriptions

On average, small businesses use 3-5 applications for their day-to-day operations, as reported by Finance Online. Spending hundreds of dollars a month on subscription fees can take a toll on your finances. To keep this expense in check, take advantage of a la cart online tools like a free invoice generator. This gratis tool allows you to quickly customize invoices to fit your business, and you can use it as needed without forking over a lot of money for a full software suite.

The subscription model as it applies to software licensing fees is a double-edged sword but sometimes you can find ways to save. Unfortunately, most commercial software can no longer be purchased out right so you will be paying month after month, year after year.  However, there are two nice things about the subscription model for software. You can pay as you need it which will save you money if you can offboard certain software for parts of the year.  This also spreads out your expenses over time, so you don’t have to pay a large amount of money right up front.  Alternatively, some software comes in both models, for example, Microsoft Office.  Office 365 requires a yearly subscription but depending on your purposes and the number of machines you will be running it on, it might make sense to purchase a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2019 as it could be much cheaper over the long run.

Staffing

Salaries are one of the biggest monthly expenses you’ll incur, which can be controlled by hiring employees only for positions you feel are integral to the growth of the business. For secondary projects, you can opt to hire freelancers on a per-project basis.

Marketing

Rather than spending thousands of dollars a month toward running ads on social media, you can pivot your strategy toward building an audience organically. This will include writing blogs, regularly posting on social handles, and leveraging email marketing. In addition to reduced costs, this method will help you create a loyal following providing you with long-term benefits. To ensure you’re creating quality content for your social media and website, be sure to work with the team of professionals at Prime Encode.

Business Skills

One great way you can grow your business — and your business skills — is to go back to school. For instance, if you’ve always wanted to earn your MBA, now’s the perfect time to do so! This way, you can pick up some new skills that will allow you to tackle your business from a completely refreshed angle. This is an excellent way to grow your business and learn different ways you can help keep costs from spiraling out of control. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, you can start taking courses as soon as your schedule allows.

Following the above-mentioned steps will allow you to keep your recurring costs in check, resulting in healthier business finances and more funds to invest toward its growth.