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Business expenses you need to cut

figures19082355.jpgMost small business owners will find that their business expenses outweigh their income 3 to 1 and this causes half of them to close their doors within the first 12 months. To avoid losing your business, try cutting some of these business expenses:

Tip # 1 - Reduce software costs
Business owners often buy the top of the line software programs when they are getting started because salesmen tell them they have to have it. The fact is, you can get by just find on some other software programs that are a year or two old. You can also find tons of software programs that are available for free.

Tip # 2 - Marketing
Your marketing budget is one of your biggest expenses, but you can still get the same amount of publicity for half the cost. Instead of printing up fancy brochures and mailing postcards and catalogs to your customers, use the internet to your advantage. Email is a great way to inform your customers about your products and services. Smart marketers also know the power of social networking sites and blogging to attract more attention.

If you are insistent upon having some products printed (like business cards) use an online printer instead of your local printer. Online printers normally offer you cheaper rates and they will add in extra business cards, fliers, postcards, and other services for free. You can easily get 500 magnets printed for half the price you would pay with a local printer.

Tip # 3 - Utilities

Many business owners do not realize how much money they are wasting on utilities. Energy companies have found that customers will save an average of 5 percent on their monthly bill if they will turn down their heaters or increase the temperature on their air conditioners. Utilities cost your company around 10 percent of your total income. One way you can save money on utilities is to start closing the office on Fridays and extend your company hours Monday through Thursday. Companies that have done this have seen a 10-20 percent decrease in their monthly utility expenses and their employees are less-likely to use sick leave and vacation time.

Tip # 4 - Office Equipment

Since competition is fierce in every market, business owners often convince themselves that they need the newest office supplies on the market. While a $5000 copier may be nice, your existing copier may be working just fine. Before you make expensive purchases, always check to see if you really need it. Try to keep your equipment less than 5 years old, this will keep your company up to date with the latest software and it helps your staff to be more efficient.

Tip # 5 - Bookkeeping
It is normal for businesses to hire more people than they really need. A bookkeeper is one job that you can easily do, if you have the right know-how. Using simple software programs like QuickBooks, you can easily teach yourself the proper bookkeeping skills you need to run your business. Since business taxes do tend to get confusing, you may want to hire an accountant to help with them so you don't have any problems with the IRS.

Tip # 6 - Web site
There are thousands of free web site hosting companies that can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars a year. Google and other companies have free hosting programs that are designed to help business run their own web sites. To save even more money, hire a freelance webmaster to control your web site. Since they are freelance, you do not need to add them to your payroll and they are in charge of paying their own taxes.

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