If you’re one of the people planning to start a business during the pandemic, good for you. Now is a great time to pursue a business especially since finding a job is harder nowadays. But starting your own business doesn’t come easy. It takes capital to start a business and even more money to keep it running. If you want to know how you can save money on your business, here’s how:
1. Cut-down costs on advertising
Include advertising material such as coupons, newsletters, or promotional fliers with every customer’s purchase. If traditional advertising is too costly, take advantage of social media by promoting your business on several platforms for free. Sixty-four percent of consumers say that social media videos have influenced them to buy certain products. Ask happy customers to leave reviews on your page or to post pictures and videos of your product on their social media accounts. You can also ask friends and family to help promote your business online.
Besides, with the pandemic and social distancing protocols, you can expect a majority of people are seeing advertisements online through digital marketing. Not traditional marketing.
2. Save on insurance
You either do your research and compare rates until you find the best rate for your budget. Or you can start your own insurance company, also known as a captive insurance company. Starting a captive insurance company has many advantages. You mitigate risks, protect your assets, and save more money. How? First, by allowing you to retain underwriting profits that would usually be lost to commercial insurance companies.
Also, you control the company and the policies, meaning you can increase deductibles which will result in exceptionally low premiums. If you need more information on how you can start your own captive insurance company, you can hire a captive insurance attorney to consult you.
3. Go digital
Make use of this pandemic to earn money by shifting your business from the traditional brick-and-mortar store to an online business instead. Not only will you save tons of money by avoiding rent. You also save money on equipment and all other costs that come with owning a physical store. It’s safer too! E-commerce has boomed during the pandemic.
Now is the best time for you to pursue an online business because everyone is stuck at home with nothing better to do than shop. Studies have shown that consumers’ needs and demands have not changed during the pandemic. They are buying from online stores even more now because a majority of consumers have begun hoarding things to cope with the pandemic. Take note of this and use this information to your advantage.
Another great thing about going digital is that many things are free. Digital marketing can be free if you do it yourself. When it comes to managing your business, there are tons of free software that you can install online that’ll help you with managing your business better. There’s software for management, accounting, HR, inventory, and anything else you can think of that’s related to business.
4. Save on shipping
When it comes to shipping, try to find the right courier for you. Aside from the big companies, such as FedEx and USPS, there are independent couriers available as well. But if you have customers that live near you or around your area you can also choose to deliver some of the packages yourself to save money. Make sure you compute and weigh the pros and cons first.
5. Make it a family business
There are plenty of advantages when it comes to turning your business into a family business. One, you don’t have to pay them like you would pay your employees. Two, you all live in the same household making remote work easy. Three, it’ll be a great family bonding experience for all of you.
6. Be energy efficient
Cut down your energy bills by practicing energy-efficient habits. Being energy efficient is easy when you’re running your business from home, but it can also be done at the workplace. Make it a habit to turn off all unused lights. And if you can, don’t turn on any light during the day and just make use of natural light only. You can also save more energy on your HVAC system by installing a programmable or smart thermostat.
How? Most American households’ energy consumption goes to their heating and cooling. That’s because you don’t know how to properly regulate the temperature in your house without wasting so much energy. Having a programmable or smart thermostat makes regulating the temperature of your home or office much easier. It’ll set the temperature at just the right levels to save energy without making it too hot or too cold.
Owning a business is not easy. It takes hard work to survive especially during a pandemic. But for most of us, we don’t have a choice. We’ve got to find some source of income during these tough times. So if you’re looking to find ways to save money on your business, make sure to follow these suggestions.
