Generally, I don’t believe that saving is the right approach in doing business. Time is valuable and in most cases the same time spent on earning money brings more income than the time spent on saving money. That said, almost every business can use some trimming at least once every few years on recurring expenses, and some large numbers can be cut
Number one target would be services you once needed that you don’t any longer use. For example, you may have had a HD TV in your showroom or waiting room & you’ve ordered a premium cable package for it, but since then the setup you had has changed, you’ve found a better way to entice your clients or your showroom has now become the room for your sales personnel, but yet you’re still paying for that premium cable package every month.
Next would come overpriced services you are paying that once were good deals. This may include your rent, insurance, vendors, credit cards, credit card processing fees, phone bills, internet bills & so on. Generally, you do your research by the time you are getting into these contractual relationships, however, over the years, things change and what used to be a great relationship then is sucking the blood out of you now. For instance you may have applied for a credit card that seemed fair at the time. Since then your credit may have improved dramatically, yet you are still paying the APR & fees associated with your old credit history. Changing the service provider can take a little bit of your time, which is most of the time still worth it, but luckily you should be able to adjust the rates you are paying just by calling your current service providers. Even if they don’t have a current running plan that matches your expectations, they are likely to match their competitors’ prices to keep you as a customer.
Upgrading the old technology can be another way of saving by cutting down the waste, energy bills or labor hours. Say you run a hosting company. You r current servers have the capacity to serve maximum 5 customers each. A new server has the power to serve 10 times more customers than your old servers & is still more power efficient than any of the old ones. By upgrading you might be able to save on your electric bill & labor hours necessary to maintain the machines.
Going over your recurring expenses every few years is a good practice & should not be overlooked. Whether the changes are worth the effort or not depends on how much changes can be made & the volume of business you do. For a retailer that has hefty merchandise cycles financed by credit cards, a lower APR can result in large savings, while for another business it could make little to no savings. Usually, the majority of businesses find at least a few worth spending a little time on.