When looking at how you can save money and businesses costs, it is important to look at all cost cutting saving measures, as even if making redundancies will save you the most money short term, in the long run by looking at many smaller cost saving areas you can actually save far more money by doing this.
Making redundancies should always be the employer's last resort because it affects so many people's lives and also the general structure of the business, that if it can be avoided, it should be.
You can end up saving a lot of money on a per annum basis by reducing your postage and communication costs, which can not only be done very quickly but will use all of the same software and equipment that your staff members are probably using already.
Send Invoices And Letters Via Email - Unless our customers ask, we do not send any invoice or communications through the post, instead we send everything via email because not only does this reduce our costs, it also means that the customer gets the document instantly rather than relying on the postal system which can be slow at busy times of year.
Send Fax To Email - Although fax machines are probably dying a slow death, there are still firms and businesses that either have to or insist upon using faxes to send invoices, orders or memos.
There is no need for you to have a fax machine because you can get all faxes sent to your computer via a free or paid for fax to email program, which delivers the fax to your computer in a PDF format, eliminating paper wastage and the need for a fax line.
Use VOIP Instead Of Phones - As long as you have a reliable and steady internet connection then there is no reason why you can not use the majority of your phone operations on a voice over Internet protocol system.
You would be surprised how many small offices and home offices actually run their phone systems over the Internet, either using a dedicated phone service or programs like Skype.
Use Instant Messengers Between Staff - Instead of asking your staff to make internal calls or wasting time walking between offices, there is no reason why they can not just use a decent Instant Messaging system like Google Talk, Skype or MSN.
If you are worried about the abuse of this, you can stop them adding anyone outside of your organisation or you can disable many of the features that could cause you issues internally.
Use Virtual Walls Instead Of Memos - Internal memos can cost money if you are sending them on paper and can often cause issues when you are sending emails to multiple users, so why not start a virtual wall where you can communicate all of your latest information to all employees? These are so useful because you can set it up so that all employees see it immediately when they log into their system, so you can be assured that they will not only see the message but can also respond to it.
Operate A CRM For Employees - Running a good CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) can bring together all of your documents relating to all of your clients and removes the need for endless photocopying and storage.
You can add lots of things like tasks, to do lists, communication tools, calendars and so much more, meaning that all of your staff can communicate using this system rather than phone calls or lots of notes on paper.
It is vital that you look at all areas when you begin to draw up a cost cutting plan, because overlooking the areas that you consider to be small or not really worth looking at is a vital mistake.
Sometimes, some of the smaller cost cutting measures can lead to the biggest long term savings.