Dennis Howlett

The best advice I ever heard was when a wise person said to me the time to evaluate your business cost and cash position is not when times are tough but when times are good. Even so, most people don’t do that. However, there are many things a business can do to weather rocky financial conditions. They fall into three buckets: managing costs, managing cash flow and increasing business volume.

Managing costs

Now more than ever it is easier to reduce costs by doing many tasks electronically. For instance:

1. Move routine communications to email or instant messaging.
2. Bank online for both payments and receipts.
3. Bill electronically.

At an operational level, you should be scrutinizing every expense or overhead line item, looking for areas of waste or opportunities to lower cost:

1. Negotiate new terms for property leases, offering longer terms at a reduced rate.
2. Where possible, consolidate occupancy.
3. Consider switching to homeworking for staff ,and so release property requirements but ensure that communications will not be impeded.
4. Consider the extent to which you can operate hot desking.
5. Negotiate or switch communications carriers ensuring that each category (voice, mobile and data) is optimized for your consumption levels. read more