Introduction
During the pandemic where every cent counts, even the smallest profit can create an impact on the profitability of the business. Cost cutting in pandemic is an important aspect that every company is doing nowadays for bringing a significant change in the overall business procedure. The economic crisis during the pandemic has affected businesses irrespective of sectors, hence cost-cutting in pandemic is one of the main aspects that should be a part of the business continuity plan for every company. Now it’s time to step back for the small businesses and carefully plan the cost-cutting techniques while outsourcing a few business tasks.
Strategies of Cost Cutting in Pandemic
Outsourcing has always proven to be one of the best tactics for cost cutting in pandemic. Apart from outsourcing, there are many strategies that a business can adopt in this crisis to remain productive in the long run. Below are a few tactics of cost cutting in pandemic explained in a detailed manner.
1. Lower Operation Costs
Startups should always look for ways for reduced operational costs and optimizing resources within the available resources. Check for the irrelevant infrastructure in this situation as most of the employees will be working from home. Either resell the old equipment or donate to some other companies who are in need. Companies should track the performance parameters of each and everything and then see how they are reflecting the efficiency goals.
2. Use Time Management Strategies
Time-bound operational strategies not only will help you in finishing work in time but also helps in minimizing the use of resources. Proper usage of any platform and application will help the employees and teammates to focus and concentrate on work while staying on track with their tasks. With the usage of time-management strategies, the deadline will meet along with optimum utilization of office resources.
3. Lower Financial Expenditures
Reducing financial expenditure is the main target of any cost-cutting in pandemic for any business. It can be done by comparing the competitive rates for all the service providers and checking all the unnecessary insurances. Conducting a thorough cost-benefit analysis of each aspect of business will help the business forecasting forecast its business continuity plan. Consider all the opportunity costs along with the effect of the debt payments on the cash flow of the business.
4. Narrow Your Focus
Narrowing your business focus can be proven to be the most effective strategy for recovering the crunch in the pandemic situation. If possible, limiting a few services that are not so necessary can help in cost cutting in pandemic. However, outsourcing business tasks like customer support, back-office support, photo editing, software development, etc. can be cost-effective when compared to maintaining an in-house team for accomplishing these business functions.
5. Promote Remote Working
Nowadays remote working facilities are approved by most companies. It helps in cost cutting in pandemic situations by helping the employees to work from their comfortable workspace. However, working from home has both positive and negative impacts. Companies should follow the best practices of efficient working from home so that employees become more productive and work gets completed within time. In this way, small-medium enterprises can reduce their office space too, thus renting less space compared to the situation before the pandemic.
6. Use Open-Source Software
Open-source software can be used freely while modifying it that can be shared with the team. Platforms like WordPress help in creating a website and other functions which not only helps you in saving money but also it has options for modification, editing which is very easy to use. Well, it depends on your usage and the complexity of the program whether you can use any kind of open-source software or not.
7. Cut Supply Costs
Reducing supply costs is one of the ways of cost cutting in pandemic where you need to check the number of office supplies that are essential now because most of the employees are working from home. Hence, there will be less usage of office supplies. Consider the list of supplies that will add value to your business and make a note of it while informing the distributors. Plan wisely while buying the supplies in bulk for more cost-efficiency.
8. Digitalize Marketing Strategies
Using digital marketing strategies instead of traditional marketing strategies has always proven to be cost-effective. Social media websites nowadays are offering marketing tactics for reaching targeted leads that are more convenient and cheaper. Instead of spending bucks on commercial TV ads and billboards, it is way better to spend on SEO and content marketing for generating traffic on your website. A client recommendation by referral marketing or e-mailer yields a much better result than traditional marketing with lesser cost.
9. Use Employee Skills
In this pandemic situation, hiring new skills can be time and cost-sensitive for a company. Hence, retaining existing employees is essential for the Human Resource department of the company. Tracking the work and the career development of the employees is essential for using the employees’ skills for the company’s development. Be open to sharing responsibilities among the employees and distribute based on their skills.
10. Enhance Latest Digital Trends
Using free online tools whenever possible can help in cost cutting in pandemic. To start with a virtual office setup is good where you can schedule online meetings with the employees that minimize the need for the physical space. Online meetings with the offices located abroad help in reducing the travel costs a lot. Usage of free cloud storage rather than paid cloud storage is apt for cost-efficiency.
Final Thoughts
While the insights of the techniques of cost cutting in pandemic are overwhelming, they are very vital for every small and medium business. Outsourcing and going remote are two aspects that will help the companies to cut costs in this pandemic situation. However, if used skillfully, then it can help your company to save a lot of capital in the current crisis. Add all these cost-cutting strategies to your business continuity plan for the pandemic and sustain in the market.
