Keeping business costs low is something that most owners try to do, and there are many ways to approach this. Some will decide to cut corners or have their employees deal with the consequences. They may use tricks to pass the costs down to their customers. However, there are other things you can do that will not compromise your team’s morale or the quality of your product/service. Let’s take a look at how you can reduce your business operating costs.

Review Your Insurance Policies

One of the first things we would suggest you do is review your policies and see if there are any issues there. You might be covered for things that you don’t need, or you could be overpaying for the policy that you have. For instance, you may assume that you need commercial car insurance when you don’t. Even if you’re the owner of the business, you don’t need to get commercial car insurance on the vehicle if you’re using it to get to work only. You’d be better off with personal car insurance instead.

There are many ways that you can save on personal car insurance as well. In this case, we would suggest that you look for personal car insurance on a site like quotezone.co.uk. This will allow you to get the cheapest car insurance possible by comparing quotes from the insurers in their network. You’ll be able to look at every policy in detail before making your decision and get your policy right on the spot.

Change Vehicles

Speaking of cars, you should also be looking at the cars in your fleet if you have one. If you’re a big believer in keeping your vehicles until the end, know that you’re not really making savings by doing so. For one, older vehicles tend to be less fuel efficient, so you’re overpaying there. Older vehicles are more likely to break down too, so that’s a second problem. Not only that, but they’re more likely to be involved in accidents and will have virtually no resale value at the end of their life. Old commercial vehicles depreciate even more because of the high mileage.

In this case, we would suggest you look at leasing vehicles instead. This way, you won’t have to worry about major components breaking down as this will usually be taken care of by the leasing company and is covered by a warranty. You also won’t have to deal with depreciation or selling your vehicles at the end of their lifecycle.

Another thing we would suggest is that you look at diesel vehicles. These are much cleaner than they used to be and the cost of fuel is cheaper, so that would be an easy way to save a few pounds every month.

Review Your Bank Account

There are many banks that offer free banking to businesses and you should take advantage of these. Organisations like the FSB will also provide free accounts to members. So, if you aren’t a member already, now would be a great time to join.

Clean Up Your Credit

One of the worst things you can do is leave an outstanding balance on your credit cards. Most business credit cards have very high fees, and you’re losing money if you’re leaving money on your cards. If you have any money saved up, it would be better to move it towards your credit card debt.

Switch Providers

One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that staying with the same provider will give them perks. In reality, service providers care a lot more about getting new clients than maintaining current ones. So, you at least have to be ready to let them know that you are willing to leave. You should first try to negotiate a deal. If this doesn’t work, know that there are many services that will allow you to compare everything from energy to broadband internet providers.

Work Out a Deal with Your Suppliers

When it comes to suppliers, however, relationships are everything. If you’ve been with a supplier for a long time and you’re a regular, then you should ask if they could offer you a discount. You have nothing to lose and most will have no problem giving one to you if you’re a good client as long as your offer is reasonable.

Hire a Good Accountant

Hiring a competent accountant could be the single best decision you’ve ever made. Accountants often know more about a business than the actual business owners. They might be able to see areas where you’re leaking money and how you could be more efficient. They could also help you find out about different government schemes or tax exemptions you may have not been aware about.

These are all simple ways in which you could reduce your business’s overhead costs. We suggest that you consider all of these options as they will add up over time.