Proper cash flow management is vital for every business, especially startups. You need to ensure a positive cash flow, meaning your business has more money coming in than out. This allows your business to generate cash and pay its obligations and expenses simultaneously.
As a startup, one way to ensure this is by reducing your transaction costs. With this, you can maintain a positive cash flow, increase your budget, and make sure you have enough cash to grow your business and finance your business operations.
That said, here are some ways to reduce expenses:
Table of Contents
Adopt Technology
Besides taking your business forward, using technology can help cut your expenses. To begin with, you can use online word processing applications to go paperless—helping you save on paper and printing costs. Using these to centralize and organize your company documents is also a way to save on budget for a record or storage room.
Aside from this, you can also utilize accounting software to help your finance and accounting department to work more efficiently. This way, they wouldn’t need to use paper journals to record your financial transactions as they can do it directly on the software. They can automatically enter, store, and analyze financial data. You can even use it for financial reporting, payroll, bill payment, and invoicing without excess use of paper. If you’re worried about international accounting concerns, you can check the accounting software vendor for their compliance and reputation.
Another way to adopt technology is by holding online meetings, training, or interviews using communication apps. You can interview new team members online and send them digital handouts regarding benefits, schedules, policies, team member handbooks, and other training resources. Hiring and training them this way helps your business save on onboarding costs required when having these done in physical or on-site locations. Additionally, these communication apps allow you to send announcements, newsletters, and updates instead of the traditional printed paper memos.
Buy Pre-Owned Equipment
While buying new equipment may be a good option, getting used ones may be better, especially for startup businesses. When starting, operations for startups may not be as hectic as compared to major companies operating for years. However, make sure that the equipment is still in excellent condition to make the most of your purchase.
Moreover, buying used equipment can help you avoid buying unnecessary equipment because you might not exactly know what you need during the first phases of your business. It’s still better to experience and discover your business needs before purchasing new equipment. This allows you to avoid wasting money on equipment that you might not need in the long run.
Make Bulk Purchases
To reduce your transaction costs, it may also be best to purchase some supplies in bulk, including product materials, software licenses, office supplies, or raw materials. However, be cautious not to buy an excessive number of supplies.
With bulk purchases, you may enjoy bigger discounts. Most suppliers offer lower prices when you buy in large quantities. That’s why it’s best to list down what your business will consume daily. Then, compare prices from different suppliers to get the best value for your purchase.
Advertise Your Business Online
Marketing nowadays is made easier and cheaper thanks to the internet. This can even help you gain better results, and you can do it quickly. You can start a social media page and post content to build and advertise your brand. This is a free marketing strategy that you can use daily.
Aside from a social media page, you may also want to create a website. Here, you can post a blog related to your industry. This means your potential customers can learn more about your business. With more readers or visitors, your online visibility will be higher. All of these costs are lower than traditional advertising or marketing.
Avoid Unnecessary Payments
When operating a business, you must have a budget and financial journal where you can track all your expenses. Doing this will help you check your payments, even for small stuff. Monitor if these purchases are vital for your business or if they may just be taking your finances. If yes, they eliminate these unnecessary items.
Another is when your business is subscribed to monthly services that you don’t utilize. Cut off these payments even if they cost less than a hundred dollars, they’re significant when accumulated.
Conclusion
Your business should have more cash coming in instead of money going out as much as possible. That way, you can maintain your capital and continue operating. In reverse, you may go bankrupt because your capital can no longer sustain your expenses.