10 Simple Ways To Save Money In Your Business10 Simple Ways To Save Money InYour Business

1. Throw out those fancy pink duplicate phone message pads that everyone loved so much (in the ‘80s) and email phone messages through your organisation.

2. Don’t mail out tax invoices – email them. Why pay for printing, paper, a stamp and an envelope when you can just mail the invoice?

3. Set up a blog with an RSS feed as the memo board for your staff, if this sounds too techie – set up a facebook fan page and do the same thing.

4. Ban overseas phone calls and have everyone use skype instead. If it’s a business call it’s probable that whoever they’re calling is going to have skype anyway.

5. Throw away your cheque book (well as much as you can). Pay everything by credit card or direct deposit (save the stamp, envelope and time).

6. Teach your staff the difference between using express / overnight delivery envelopes just ‘cos they’re fun and pretty and actually needing to. Also teach them that when sending a letter in the same post code – it’ll get there tomorrow anyway!

7. If you send out a printed newsletter – stop! C’mon who doesn’t have email these days – it’s cheaper and you’re killing less trees.

Ways to spend money that’ll still save you money in the long term

8. Subsidise staff member’s gym memberships. Healthier, fitter staff have less sick days. If you were to subsidise $100 from an annual gym membership and it results in 2 less sick days a year – you’re way in front.

9. Get rid of the charity choccies and biscuits (sorry!) and have fresh fruit available for your staff to munch on. See point eight about healthy staff being better staff.

10. Get a decent coffee machine in your office. 3 trips to the Starbucks a day ‘aint cheap (on your business – forget about on their pockets). If your staff are gone for 15 minutes a time for each coffee break, that’s 45 minutes a day more productive they could be if the coffee were easier to get to. Also (considering my rant on health), get a water cooler and make it much easier to get to than the coffee pot.

Sign up to Kirsty's weekly email online at: www.kirstydunphey.com/weekly.html

By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

Everyone needs a … Matt

I remember the moment clearly. About a decade ago, my childhood friend Matt sat patiently trying to explain to me that I would love mobile phone text messages if I just gave them a chance.

With my goldfish like attention span dominating my vision that day I spat back at my good friend that I would not love text messaging, that I would certainly never need to text message and that I did not want to hear anything further on the subject.

Fast forward to today and not only do I conduct business via text messaging, it’s a vital tool for me socially – in fact I even hate speaking on the phone these days I like to text so much. To top it off, without text messaging, the courtship between my husband and I probably wouldn’t have progressed farther than our first hello!

It was in the next few years after my texting habit took hold I realised that, if you’re like me and not on cutting edge of what is about to be cool, you need a “Matt” in your life.

Your “Matt” will be that person who is right on the edge of the latest technology, who knows what’s about to be cool before the masses do and who is generous enough to share that knowledge with you.

My Matt was the one who introduced me to my laptop (and my husband and brother’s to theirs), ipods, blogging, podcasting, facebook, skype, feedburner and so much more! Matt has also asked that I mention that he is working on edging me towards a mac as my new computer.

If you’re not on the edge (as I’m not), how can you find someone who’s out there to advise you?

If you’re a business looking to tap into that edge, how can you find ways to start influencing those “Matt” people who see the next trends before they happen?

Sign up to Kirsty's weekly email online at: www.kirstydunphey.com/weekly.html

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments