5 ways to help your SME save money

From lean management tactics to staying on top of business energy claims, here’s how to maximise efficiency and profitability in your organisation

The world of business can be both demanding and cut-throat, as any entrepreneur will tell you. Around 70% of businesses shut down within less than two years and, according to CB Insights, 29% of these failed organisations cite running out of cash as their main reason for failure.

That’s why smart money-saving tactics are so important – they can literally be the difference between achieving and abandoning your business goals. SMEs must go the extra mile to secure themselves and keep investors happy, looking closely at areas like technology and business energy security. 

With that in mind, here are five smart ways to help your business save money in the long run.

1. Seek out tax deductions and exemptions

Taxes are painful for any business owner, so it’s important to make sure you aren’t paying any more than you need to be. Possible tax deductions include everything from auto expenses and employee benefits to interest on loans. Any and all of these could help you save significant sums of money over the long term.

Tax reforms are ever-changing and it is fair to say that opportunities come and go as different governments amend the rules in line with their policies. Catch the right tax exemptions – be it for R&D or business rates relief – and you could help to significantly tighten up on costs and improve profitability.

2. Implement lean management tactics

Lean management practices can be implemented into your business from day one and can impact your organisation at all levels. This is a great way to show your investors that you are committed to running your business efficiently.

Lean management is designed to reduce waste, increase productivity, reduce operating costs and generally eliminate any elements that don’t add value to your business. Lend a critical eye to how your business is run, paying particular attention to poorly run meetings, excess inventory and manual tasks that could be automated.

3. Investigate hidden business energy commission

Energy costs can be a serious drain on an organisation, especially when starting out. Gas and electricity payments can take a significant chunk out of what would be profits, but if it feels like you are paying too much for your business energy bills, the likelihood is you are.

Recent reports reveal that a surprisingly high number of businesses could have a mis sold business energy claim to their name, meaning they’ve paid too much for their gas and business electricity deals. Investing in effective business energy security can help to protect your organisation from a mis sold energy contract or business energy rollover contracts, helping you save money and reclaim funds you should never have had to pay in the first place.

4. Streamline your HR

In more established organisations, driving efficiency within the HR department is critical to overall cost control efforts. Protracted hiring processes, high employee turnover, duplicate job roles and litigation as a result of poor employee relations can all serve to squeeze profits.

Whether it is using cloud-based HR software to automate many of the standardised, process-driven tasks or providing comprehensive training on lean working modalities, making the HR function a well-oiled machine will ultimately set the tone for the entire organisation.

5. Use tech to your advantage

Speaking of tech, its benefits aren’t limited to your HR department. Billing, procurement, invoicing and collaboration are all aspects of your daily business life that can either be automated or enhanced with the use of smart technology. Poorly thought-out IT policies can cause your organisation to spend more money than it needs to overtime, forcing you to put time, effort and resources into completing tasks which could be easily digitised.

Implementing a comprehensive IT strategy, as well as the necessary software, will likely require an initial investment, but the improvements this can make to your productivity and efficiency will far outweigh the costs. This can also help you protect your business data with effective cybersecurity, avoiding a costly and embarrassing data breach or malware attack in the future.

Every penny counts when it comes to running an SME, and putting these measures in place will help you save time, effort and money while supporting the growth of your organisation.


If you think that you may have been mis sold a business energy contract, get in touch with Winn Solicitors today by visiting https://www.winnsolicitors.com/energy-mis-selling-claims