13 Tips To Save Money During Tough Times

1. Refit your home and business premises for energy savings. Stop those air leaks, turn off the lights when leaving the room. In Europe many hotels have motion detectors in the hallway that turn on the lights only when someone enters the hallway and elevators that start running only when someone approaches them rather than all the time.

2. If you have a business that has a fleet of cars, when the time comes, switch to hybrids. We cut our gas bill in half with a new hybrid Camry that gets 36 mpg. There was also an attractive tax credit we received that offset a good portion of the sale price.

3. Shop at the wholesale clubs and share costs of office supplies, cleaning supplies and paper products with your business neighbors.

4. Barter. If your business offers a product or service appropriate for barter, ask a supplier if there are any trade possibilities. Or join a barter association where you offer your products or services and gain points to trade for other products or services.

5. Turn off all computers and copiers when not is use and shut off the power at the source. Some electronics use 25% of their power when in standby mode. This can be easily done by plugging the computers and copiers into a surge protector.

6. Need advertising? Craigslist.com is free. So is a Facebook Pay Per Click ad. You only pay when someone is interested enough to click on your ad and you can set a maximum daily budget.

7. Recycle, reuse. There is no longer any stigma attached to reusing printed paper and printing in house documents on the backside of the paper for cost savings.

8. Check Ebay for bulk items, office equipment and supplies.

9. Join an online forum in your industry to see what others in your niche are doing to cut costs.

10. Share advertising costs with a company in an associated industry. For example, a real estate company may share ad costs with a title company or appraiser. An accounting firm could line up with a law firm. A beauty shop could align an ad with a spa or clothing store.

11. Recycle used ink cartridges at your local office supply for credit on new cartridge purchases. We get $3.00 off on each new one.

12. Add more value to employee jobs. Can't give a raise? One company we know found a local gym that gave excellent discounts to employees. Some local restaurants or sandwich shops may give employee discounts.

13. If things really get tough, you may be forced to outsource some positions that used to be handled in house. Google Virtual Assistants in your town to find an independent contractor to provide administrative services as needed. A virtual assistant can type letters, do data entry, marketing campaigns, graphic design and some are capable with bookkeeping processes. Best of all, you only pay them for work performed and most will work off site. Contact the International Virtual Assistant Association (IVAA) for someone local with proper credentials.

When times are tough, we need our neighbors more. By working together we have a better chance of survival as business owners.

The good news is all downturns are temporary.

With the above tips, you can save needed capital, educate your employees about cost savings and get through the tough times. Best of all, these saving ideas can survive even when the economy improves and your business recovers.