Are you running a profitable business? Well, congratulations if so! But you’ll know as well as anyone that there’s plenty more you could be doing to make your business even more efficient. Those little ‘upgrades’ in the way you do things could make the difference between filing marginal and brilliant profits this year, and much of the time, you can use technology to help you achieve that. Here are a few ways that technology can help you cut down your business outgoings.
Use technology to make your payments accurate
To reduce your business outgoings, it makes sense to begin by targeting the area that tackles finances head on: your business bank account. You’ll be making regular payments from your business bank accounts for all manner of things, such as paying vendors, paying employees, and paying direct debits, to name a few. Technology can help you in this regard, and all you have to do is invest in software that’s designed to prevent errors.
For instance, why not consider buying laser-printed checks that pair with software to automatically capture payroll deductions and invoice payments? This could reduce data entry errors, prevent fraud, and even speed up the time you take managing your financial outgoings.
Use free technology rather than paying for it
Another way to cut down your business outgoings using technology is to stop unnecessarily paying for high-end technology. It might sound like an obvious point to make, but have you actually stopped to review whether or not the technology you’re paying for is really worth it?
For instance, use Google analytics if you want a free tool to analyse traffic coming to your business website. Use free image editing software such as Fotor rather than paying for Photoshop, and see if your business can get by using the free version of Dropbox rather than paying for a business account. Ultimately you may need to pay to upgrade these kinds of technologies as your business grows, but while you’re small enough to get away with using the free versions, consider doing so.
Use cost-effective cloud servers to host your website
Finally, all businesses need to have a strong online presence nowadays, which means you need a well-designed website that’s hosted on a server strong enough to support the traffic you receive. But, there’s no need to pay top dollar for it. If you’re a small business, it’s very unlikely that you actually need a dedicated server of your own as the amount of traffic you’ll be receiving probably doesn’t warrant the high price tag. Start on a shared server if your traffic is low to moderate, upgrading to a VPS (virtual private server) if you want intermediate hosting.
Knowing a little bit about the technology you’re investing in (such as web hosting) is a good way to reduce your business outgoings: it will stop you being taken advantage of by other business and ensures you’re only investing in technology that’s truly worth your hard-earned money.
So, review the technology your business is using – decide where you can cut back, and identify which parts of your business would really benefit from an upgrade in technology too. You might just find that your outgoings reduce significantly.
