7 Ways To Manage Your Budget and Increase Profitability
With the current state of the world, many businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Business owners are checking their company finances hourly–adjusting and readjusting.
With this in mind, we asked fellow business owners, “What are you currently doing to help manage your budget and maintain any remaining profits?”
Here’s what they had to say.
Mind Your Evolving Priorities
During these uncertain times, we are making it a top priority to stay within our tightened monetary margins. We have also been in constant communication with our clients to ensure that their software can assist them with the new challenges that COVID-19 brings. Overall, it is about sticking to your budget, eliminating unnecessary costs and ensuring that your product is malleable enough to still assist clients in these unforeseen times.
Freeze Unnecessary Services
From an office management standpoint, we froze as many services as we could and brought the vendors we could not freeze down to minimum spend.
Adrienne Collins, Workplace Experience Manager
Spend on Advertising
Before the pandemic, we had planned on bringing more people in, but for now, hiring is on hold. I don’t want to be in a situation where I give someone a job, only to realize that we can’t afford to pay them and then be forced to let them go. We’re understandably not really investing right now, per se, because we don’t know if we’ll need that money to cover payroll. Innovation is on the back burner, you can afford to take risks when things are stable, but right now, maintenance is more valuable than the possibility of growth. I see a lot of companies cutting advertising budgets and I think it’s a mistake. We’ve been putting some money towards keeping advertising up on Facebook, and we’ve been having success with conversions, so not all investments are a bad idea.
Sean Nguyen, Internet Advisor
Project Your Future Planned Costs
Project the planned costs, contracts and spend renewals, then remove them to create a more flat spend over time as the business cash flow will take time to recover, this eases pressure on those precious dollars. Make sure your clients know your value and have your emotional support and time so you keep relationships priority #1, even in the face of difficult business decisions.
Noah Wisnia, Head of Talent
Cultivate Calm
Our energy plays a big role in our wellbeing in all aspects of life. Try your best to stay calm. Limit your news consumption. If you are homebound, stay physically and mentally active. Get outside and embrace the fresh air! Maintain your social life while respecting social distancing – even if that means virtual meetups. Lastly, know that you are not alone!
Galit Tsadik, Tsadik G Management
Work Remotely
To maximize profits while we can, we have all sales, customer service and processing staff setup from home, or are fully operational – wherein the business can run at about 90% efficiency compared to pre-pandemic and lockdown.
Cut Costs Where You Can
As a small business owner, it is crucial to cut costs when you can. We decided to forgo all office costs and transition into working remotely. It has been a lifesaver during times when business isn’t certain. We have also been sticking close to our budget and keeping our staff size relatively small.