Save Your Company $$

As our economic outlook is still a bit uncertain, encourage your company to try the following to help reduce spending in the first half of 2009 while keeping its employees in tact:

1. Minimize Office Costs

There are many things you can do to reduce phone bills and save on electricity such as

• Using Skype or another VOIP product for long distance calling
• Make sure it’s “lights out” by a certain time of night to save on electricity bills
• Negotiation phone, DSL, electricity and other utility and other office vendor bill rates, or switch
• Print only when you have to and start to share documents electronically

While much of the above may be minimal, if you can get a large percent of your workforce doing the above savings will be seen.

2. Stay At Home Base More

At a minimum invest in a good virtual meeting product like WebEx or GoToMeeting (or a free alternative Califlower), where you can hold virtual meetings and web casts versus traveling to meet with someone.  While we know face to face meetings are valuable, saving $1000+ on multiple travel trips may be more important right now to survive the next year.  You can do things like virtual white boarding and sharing documents to work through to dos together.

3. Have Extra Office Space?

Rent it out to a team looking to save costs this year too!

4. Reduce Agency/3rd Party Service Provider Fees

Need that marketing agency at $15000/month, or are you better off hiring someone by project?  What about tech recruiters - can you use tools like LinkedIn, Jobster or Facebook instead to hire new team members?

5. Outsource Jobs That Are Not Core To Your Business

Do you really need a staff of HR, IT Support, Lawyers and Accountants to help you run your business?  Outsourcing companies in these areas are specialized to serve these needs economically for any type of business.

While the above tips may seem obvious to you, the key isn’t 1-2 people or department doing the above, it’s the whole company.  Internal communications should go out encouraging the above behavior such that it is rewarded when times are better again - for example, movie tickets or gift certificates you may be able to get donated for the biggest cost cutter.