30 ways to cut business costs

20. Order it back
Request that all staff hand back the unused items of stationery lurking on their desks. You may find that you do not need to re-order for many months!

21. Packaging
Printed cartons are expensive. Consider using plain ones, and sealing with printed tape instead.

22. Postage #1
Clean up your database to reduce returned mail and coordinate your marketing mail-outs to exceed threshold quantities.

23. Postage #2
Investigate alternate methods of information delivery. It may be that your message can be delivered via an alternate method to conventional mail (eg e-mail), and there are companies that specialise in distribution methods to suit your preferences.

24. Printing #1
Always use standard paper sizes.

25. Printing #2
Order larger quantities at one time, but don’t get caught out. If you only need 7,000 brochures, it’s still cheaper to order that number at $3.30 per unit than it is to pay for 10,000 at $2.80. Companies over-order to get the price down and then don’t use the stock.

26. Records management
Don’t continue to pay for the storage of boxes simply because you haven’t worked out whether you need to keep them. Review!

27. Telecommunications #1
Be aware of flag falls or connection fees per call, and your call duration, when assessing telecommunications contracts. Most businesses have low call durations, which means the flag fall is a large part of the cost of the call.

28. Telecommunications #2
Have you achieved any real savings on your phone bills over the past 12 months? How many lines do you really need? Asking yourself some questions can save you a lot of money.

29. Travelling light
Savings can be found in managing your travel well. Avoid last-minute bookings; you can save more than 30 percent by booking weeks, not days, in advance.

30. Travelling often
If you or your staff are using a lot of hotel rooms, look at negotiating a better rate with one hotel chain.

-Expense Reduction Analysts (www.expensereduction.com) is a world leading cost management and procurement consultancy. Established in the UK in 1993, Expense Reduction Analysts operates today in 27 countries.