Creative Methods to cut costs

Question

Hi Everyone,

This a very broad question, but could you help me out with some more creative ideas than the usual on how a business can cut costs? Of course, it depends on the industry and a hundred other things, but if you have anything interesting for whatever industry I would take it!

Many many thanks!

Answer 1

Spitballing:

Instead of buying (expensive) office chairs and tables, buy them at IKEA and have your employees assemble them (Amazon did that).
Use AirBnB instead of hotels for business travel
Use open source software
Use motion detectors in office lamps and meeting rooms to automatically turn of lights (Deutsche Telekom does that)
Use heat from data center to heat buildings
Set default printer settings to grayscale and double-sided print
Use tap water filtration/cooling machine instead of traditional water cooler bottles (not a good idea if your business is in Flint, though)
Get people public transport tickets and company bikes instead of company cars
MOST EFFECTIVE: Treat your people well to lower attrition and reduce search, hiring and onboarding costs!

Answer 2

Hi,

Your question is so broad and specific at the same time that I believe that none of the answers would really help you. But here are some ideas from the real projects:

Put asphalt instead of grass lawns on the huge factory and cut related employees
Turn-off the computers at the retail store at night to save electricity
Put the rugs at the hospital to cut the cleaning staff by 30%

Good luck!

Answer 3

One real-world example is to stop using offices and turn the company into a remote company. My friend's company did just this, moving from London to Morroco (see link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/11295288/Want-to-build-a-cool-start-up-Move-to-Morocco.html).