It’s universal knowledge that running a business from home is significantly cheaper than renting or buying an office space, not to mention being more eco-friendly. Nevertheless, you should still try and reduce the amount you spend as a home-operating business to help earn bigger profits and save money for other expenses.
Whether you’re a startup or have been at it for some time, let’s look at some of the ways you can save money for your home based business and be eco-conscious at the same time.
Don’t hire…yet
An exciting part of working for yourself is the ability to hire the brightest and best people for the job. However, employee costs are one of the biggest costs in the business world. So, for now, refrain on hiring, at least for the time being.
This doesn’t mean you have to slug it alone. Rather than hiring an employee, consider outsourcing tasks to freelancers as and when you need them. This might be someone checking in on your emails and replying a few times a week, or it might be a content writer adding new content to your website. This will work out much cheaper than hiring, so hold off for now.
Claim back some of your expenses
A lot of business owners are scared of this side of their business, but you should claim back what you’re entitled to. There are rules on what you can claim back for your business. For example, if you bought new equipment such as a new computer to run your business from, this is something you can claim back on.
Essentially, anything you buy that contributes to running your business can count as an expense you can claim. Doing this means you’re spending much less money on tax each year. It’s advisable to speak to a financial advisor about what you can claim back as a business, but all of the information you need is available online.
Shop around your energy providers
The energy you spend running your home business is another aspect you can claim back on, but this can also be confusing. While you’re speaking with a financial advisor about this, it’s a good idea to save as much money on the energy you’re using as you possibly can.
Start by shopping around energy providers to get the best bang for your buck. Look for cheaper contracts like this Octopus Energy referral code to lock in a great price for the whole year. And don’t forget to shop around once your contract is up, as a lot of companies rely on their customers not checking how much their renewed contract is.
You should also consider making your home more energy efficient in other ways such as re-insulating your windows and doors, and using energy saving appliances and light bulbs. The cheaper your energy bill, the better for your wallet and the environment.
Paperless Is The Way Forward
In order to be as eco-friendly as possible, you want to ditch the paper as much as you can. There are going to be times where this seems impossible, and there are going to be times where you will end up using it, but if you go as paperless as possible then you’re doing your part for the environment.
Instead of using paper, use your ipad, use your computer, and generally try to do everything without wasting trees and resources. Create an amazing home office for you to use that can consist of anything that helps you keep your focus. Look at getting something like an ipad wall mount perhaps so that you can have a screen next to you if you need more than one at a time.
Don’t settle with the first supplier you see
As a business you’ll have multiple suppliers you need to deal with. This could be ingredients for your home bakery or even your office stationery supplier. The key is not to settle with the first supplier you stumble across, and to continuously check competitor prices. While you might want to stay loyal to your suppliers, you may be able to leverage a cheaper deal if you can prove you’re able to get your goods cheaper elsewhere.
Another aspect to take into consideration is how eco-friendly your suppliers are. While you may be grabbing a great deal from your current supplier, they may not use eco-friendly practices or packaging. Being an eco-friendly business isn’t just what you do as a business, it’s who you deal with as well.
Use what you already have available
Buying new equipment and furniture for your home office is exciting, but saving money and being more conscious of the environment means you may have to make some cutbacks, at least for now.
Instead of rushing out to buy new furniture, why not use what you already have available? If you’ve got a table that’s not serving a purpose, you can use that as a desk for now. That paired with a dining room chair will serve its purpose until you’re earning enough to invest in new.
When that day does finally come, consider building your own office furniture to save on costs and be more environmentally conscious. Choosing only the materials and tools you need saves on packaging and manufacturing costs. Not only that, you can build your office furniture to perfectly fit your office space and your needs.