How to Help Your Small Business Save Money

In this day and age, companies are trying to save money on everything from shipping costs and mailing lists to energy and payroll expenses. Similar to your company, PC Professional is also a small, single-owner business in downtown Oakland that knows a lot about saving money and staying operational since 1981. With looming rumors of the recession on the up and up, if there is anything we have learned in this recession, it is to save money and keep costs down. Here is a list of a few ideas that can help your company save money and still remain efficient in 2010:

1. Energy-efficient technology will save you money over the life span of your computers, printers and other tech tools.
2. Don’t scrimp on IT disaster-recovery planning. It’s cheaper to invest now than to wait until there’s an issue.
3. Reduce the number of phone lines. Configure your office computers to send and receive faxes. Windows XP and Windows Small Business Server both make it easy to set up fax services.
4. Reassess your phone plan. Even if you don’t want to switch to a voice over IP system, you can get service for cents per minute depending on your call volume.
5. Eliminate unnecessary lighting. Install motion detectors to control lighting in frequently unoccupied areas, such as restrooms and copy rooms.
6. Turn off equipment when it’s not being used. This can reduce energy consumption by up to 25 percent as well as turning off your office computers at the end of the day can save an additional 50 percent.
7. Share printers. If you purchase and maintain multiple printers at your office, you can save money by setting up a network that allows employees to share devices. For example, Microsoft Windows Small Business Server allows you to share printers and create a more secure and productive computing environment.
8. Hire college students or interns for credit. An internship program is a win-win situation for your business. You get bright, young and ambitious employees to do your dirty work for little or no pay.
9. Plan shipping or mailings. You can schedule your shipping, mailings or deliveries to take advantage of bulk transactions.
10. .Eliminate unnecessary paper waste. Implement paper-reducing strategies such as double-sided printing and reusing paper. Save the trees!
11. Clean up your mailing list. The U.S. Postal Service will clean up your mailing list for free, correcting addresses, noting incomplete addresses and adding ZIP+4 numbers so you’ll be eligible for bar-code discounts.
12. Re-evaluate your insurance coverage and policy costs. Ask your provider about an umbrella policy, which can be cheaper