Cost of Living Help: Ways to Save Money in a Business

Cost of living crisis or not, there isn’t a company in the world that will turn its nose up at the opportunity to save money.

But how can businesses save money? Here are some quick starter tips to help you do just that:

• Remote working, where possible
• Go green – switch to electric vehicles
• Live in the cloud – use cloud-based services
• Negotiate contracts long-term
• Invest in money-saving technology
• Use price comparison websites

If they seem like a great starting point for you, read on where we break them all down in detail.

Remote working helps cut the costs of maintaining a physical office

Remote working can be a great cost of living help. Saving money for small businesses could be easily achievable with work from home.

Of course, not all businesses have this option. If you’re a massage business, you can’t really work remotely. But those businesses that don’t rely on physical interaction, should consider it as one of the best ways to save money in a business.

Remote working saves on overheads because your company doesn’t have to pay for an office space. This means you’re not paying to rent or buy a space, or to power it (with electricity) and maintain it.

You’ll still have some costs. To make a business work well remotely you need:

• Fast, reliable broadband for your business telecoms
• Cloud-based telephony (or VoIP)
• Business mobile solutions

You may need to pay for broadband for your employees, but many are willing to use their own home broadband as they’d have it as a fixed cost at home anyway.

Business mobiles can be necessary to ensure a smooth workflow from anywhere. Luckily, business mobile contracts are much more advantageous than consumer mobile contracts and you can rest assured you’ll find a great deal. Read more about the differences between business and consumer mobile contracts.

Creating the infrastructure to work remotely takes time and uses company resources. But once it’s in place your business can make significant long-term savings, with Hitachi Capital reporting that remote working can save SMEs £840 per month.

If that’s one of the money-saving business ideas appealing to you, start by comparing the market for the best telecoms solutions to make sure your business won’t be lacking anything.

Hop on the green trend with electric vehicles

As far as ‘ways to save money in a business’ goes, this one might not be so obvious.

Electric may vehicles seem expensive. They may still seem like vehicles of the future for many of you. But the reality is the change is happening now.

The UK government is taking steps to ease the transition to electric by encouraging the purchase of electric vans through grants. You can get up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for large vans to help you make the transition to electric.

But how exactly is switching to EVs saving money for small businesses? How is this cost of living help? Here’s how:

• Electricity is much cheaper than fuel. And those savings will show in the long run. Plus, you get to avoid fuel duty costs.
• EVs are cheaper to maintain. They have less moving parts, which means less parts to break.
• EVs are exempt from charges. You don’t pay the London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) of £12.50, you don’t pay Clean Air Zone charges in multiple UK cities.
• You don’t pay road tax. Electric vehicles are currently exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

Go for cloud-based services

Give up costly telephone hardware in your office and choose VoIP.

What is VoIP? It’s the technology that converts a user’s voice into a digital signal to send over the internet. Switching to VoIP will eventually not be a matter of choice. In December 2025 BT will turn off all ISDN cables and won’t install any new ones from 2023.

VoIP also supports remote working. Cloud-based telephony gives you a ‘desktop client’, which means the functionality of a phone within your laptop, and a mobile app, which means desktop functionality in your mobile phone. From a customer point of view, this means they reach your people on the same phone number at all times, no matter where they happen to be working.

How can moving to the cloud save businesses money? Well, consider the following and you’ll understand:

• It’s the cheapest option available. You won’t need any expensive hardware, just internet connection.
• It’s a highly flexible solution. It’s easy to use it, to expand it and add users. It’s simple to install, manage and maintain.
• It provides great insight into how business phones are used. This allows you to improve areas like efficiency, customer service and employee engagement.

Negotiate contracts long-term

Here’s how small businesses can save money. Instead of signing a one-year contract with a company, think about signing a five-year contract at 25% less. Of course, think of doing this for services you know you’ll be using long-term.

For example, hiring a van on a long-term contract might prove to be much more cost effective than hiring a van for a month. If you know you’ll need it for more time, go for a long-term contract. Plus, when hiring a van, you benefit from other perks included.

Like providers handling all the admin for you and offer potential discounts. Not every provider is the same, but in many cases, you call the provider to schedule your MOT or to repair the van and it will be handled. Some providers even offer breakdown cover, insurance or fuel cards alongside their hiring contracts.

Business mobile phone contracts can also prove to be more advantageous when signed for two or more years than for one. Plus, you might be able to get that new iPhone at a great price on a longer term contract.

Befriend technology

Technology is your friend. And while it may seem expensive at first glance, the investment is usually worthwhile. Plus, using certain technologies can help save you money in the long run.

Let’s take business telematics solutions, for example. Or vehicle tracking, as many like to call it.

You may have heard of it, you might even plan on getting it for your company vehicles. What you might not know is how telematics can truly benefit your business and be one of the best money-saving business ideas.
Telematics is a great way to start saving money as a small business as well. Just keep in mind it’s one of those ways where you’ll start seeing the savings in the long run, not necessarily as soon as you start using it.

Anyhow, here’s how telematics can be a cost of living help to your business:

• It improves fuel efficiency. Believe it or not, it does. You can actually see who of your drivers is demonstrating bad driving habits wasting you many litres of fuel and tackle those habits. You’ll end up paying less for fuel.
• It saves you money on vehicle maintenance. With a telematics system in place, it’s easier to keep track of your vehicle status. You won’t miss the regular maintenance visits. Your vehicles will always be in good shape and on the road, rather than in a repair garage.
• It reduces admin costs. Telematics simplify even the most basic of procedures, freeing up your admin staff for more important work. Set up alerts for MOT checks, arrange fleet servicing easily and process fuel invoices and expenses with no hassle. That’s a lot less responsibilities for you to juggle.
• It helps keep your assets safe. Did you know that there’s a higher chance to recover a tracked vehicle in case of theft? In some cases, up to a 90% higher chance. That could save you lots of money and trouble.

Take advantage of comparison websites

Comparison websites are common nowadays. You’ve probably seen them advertised a lot. And yes, we are one. At iCompario, we compare the market and research certain products and services to get you the best deals.

You might be wondering why using comparison websites is one of the great ways to save money in a business.

Well, imagine this: You read about how getting a fuel card for your business can benefit you and save you money. So, you decide to get a business fuel card. Perhaps you google ‘fuel cards’ first. And then you’re hit with a very wide range of choices. There are so many fuel cards on the market, you can’t even count them. How do you know which one is best for you?

This is where a comparison site can be extremely useful. We have experts searching the market and comparing products for you. Experts who are not overwhelmed with all the choices and keep your business needs in focus. They’ll find you the right product to fit your business specifically.

So, choose to use a comparison site to:

• Save money
• Save time
• Make sure you’re set with the right choice

For money saving business ideas, compare with iCompario.