Times are tough. Businesses are doing what they could to keep afloat. Many have already closed shop and are waiting for a better opening in the economy in the future.
If you have managed to get this far and are thinking of paring your expenses further, you could look at some of these budgets that you could adjust.
Review your advertising and marketing strategies.
Some companies are opting to cancel their ads right now. But now is also the time for re-branding, especially if your previous image is no longer appropriate to the new norm. You need advertising to establish your new brand. However, you can find ways to cut the costs.
Try to negotiate with your ad agency if you could produce some materials on your own. For example, you could provide your images while they do the designs. Or you could even produce some materials. If the entire campaign includes print ads and audio-visual ads, you could provide the print designs while leaving the audio-visual component to the agency.
Another way to do it is to contract out an ad expert who could develop the advertising plan. The production of the materials and the implementation of the campaign would then be up to you. You could phase it to make it easier on your budget, like opting to produce the billboards this year and moving the commercial ads to next year or when you get the budget.
Negotiate with your employees.
Basic pay should not be cut. There are also compensations needed for specific jobs. But maybe you could ask them if you could forego some of their benefits for a few months to a year or up to when you could recover. Maybe they are enjoying allowance for transportation and clothing. Since employees’ rotation in reporting to the offices has also been encouraged to avoid congestion in public transportation and people’s congregation during rush hour, they wouldn’t be spending the same amount for transportation anyway.
If you had already let go of employees at the start of the pandemic, reconsider if you have to hire for the same positions. See if you can contract out some work that used to be done by a regularly employed staff. For example, you might have had a staff who was in charge of writing stories. Maybe this time, these things could be contracted out. Plan how many stories would be written, what period, what reports are needed, and when.
Cut on your electric consumption.
Since it’s not a full force going to the office, you could minimize electricity use. If you could, limit your heating to only the rooms constantly in use. The same goes for the lights. The operation of the coffee machine could be scheduled. Computer units, as well as other electrical appliances that are not in use, should be unplugged.
For long-term energy efficiency, you could replace your old appliances with energy-saving units. You could also invest in alternative energy sources like solar panels. If you’re sharing a building with another office, propose an energy-efficient plan for the building.
Lessen the frequency of maintenance work.
Ask your employees to bear with the situation. If they’re used to getting to a sparkling clean office, they might have to deal with some dust since the cleaners would just be coming in once or twice a week. Request them to do their part by keeping their workstations tidy and ensuring they clean after themselves in the toilets and pantry.
Electricians, plumbers, and the routine check-ups of other similar workers could also be lessened. If possible, call them only when there are immediate needs. Don’t skimp on your security, however. Desperate times might push people to consider desperate deeds. Security is even more necessary right now.
Be conscious of your office supplies.
If before you had not minded the paper waste of wrong print jobs, missing pens, tapes, and pencils. Now is the time to be miserly about these things. Not only are you doing a favor to the planet, but you’re also saving your precious funds. These little things might be trivial, but if you add them up over a year, you’d be surprised that they could amount to as high as an entire month’s pay for an employee. A single employee over a year uses up around 10,000 sheets of paper. Add to this the ink costs and electricity consumed. Misprints alone could cost your company a lot.
Whatever cost-cutting you would be doing, make sure to explain it to your employees. You don’t want to be further saddled by labor complaints on top of your financial worries. You’re all in this together, so it wouldn’t be a problem to make them understand the situation. Keep faith that eventually, the situation will improve and your business will eventually bounce back.