The small business sector in the UK has an annual turnover of almost £2tn – yet despite that, it’s almost certain that each and every firm in this industry has had to think about costs at one stage or another. From the price of paying staff to the fees levied on all kinds of business transactions, spending money seems impossible to avoid. Luckily, there are ways out of the cash black hole – and these are just some of them.
Do it yourself
When a small business owner first starts out, the risks can feel so overwhelming that it seems like the right thing to do to outsource lots of new and confusing tasks. Marketing, for example, can seem like a tough nut to crack, especially if you’re not very digitally savvy or keen to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms – so it makes sense to pay a professional to do this for you.
However, if you’re looking to cut costs, then this sort of outsourcing is often the first port of call. It’s possible to learn how to do tasks such as marketing yourself, while it’s also easy to pick up skills such as basic repairs in your premises. Perhaps the only “must-have” professional is an accountant, especially if you’re a limited company: the risks involved with getting your tax return or document filing process wrong are too great to ignore.
