Tag: <span>cost-saving</span>

[ad_1]

Cost reduction is a challenge faced by every person starting a dollar store. In fact it starts even before the store opens for business the first time. It starts as you work to shave cost from the store fixtures, equipment and merchandise you purchase to set-up your new store. But that is just the beginning. Every day is a challenge as you look for waste and cost reduction opportunities. One of the biggest and highest leverage cost reduction opportunities is associated with the products you carry in your store. In this article I present 4 merchandise strategy actions when starting a dollar store.

1) You must know what sells quickly, what sells slowly and what doesn’t sell at all. The time of allowing slow selling or non-selling products to sit on the display shelves of your store are long gone. In today’s marketplace there simply isn’t enough time, money or room to allow this type of merchandise strategy to exist when you start a dollar store.

2) Eliminate non-selling items as quickly as possible. There is no value to shelves and shelves of merchandise that simply will not sell. While it may be painful to watch as the price goes ever-downward, the losses associated with leaving the merchandise to sit are even higher. Not only are you losing money, but over time there is a negative environment created by leaving the dusty, unwanted merchandise sitting. Take your losses and move on.

3) Once the non-selling items have been trimmed from your inventory, start working on the slow sellers next. While the non-selling items are a priority, do not think the job is done. Once non-sellers are eliminate from your store’s inventory focus on selling the slower-selling items. A creative strategy may be all that is required. Start with prominent displays and great signage. If that doesn’t do the trick try small price drops. Consider featuring the slow-sellers as a part of a sidewalk sale, or inventory reduction sale. Try trading some of your slow selling products for slow sellers from a competitor.

4) When opening a dollar store be cautious about experimenting with new items. Clearly define your merchandise strategy for all new product additions. Complete your research. Start with small test orders. Watch the sales levels of new products to make sure they are worthy of being carried as regular inventory in your store.

To your success when starting a dollar store!

[ad_2]

Source by Bob Hamilton

[ad_1]

Congratulations! You and your partner have a bundle of joy on the way. My husband and I were ecstatic when we learned we were pregnant with our first son, but it was then that reality hit. An extra person in the home meant more expenses in every aspect, and a complete change in our regular routine. There are often sacrifices made when we become parents, but it doesn’t mean our bank accounts have to be completely drained as a result. There are loads of ways to save cash while welcoming a new member into the family.

1. Don’t Buy Maternity Clothing

I’ll elaborate on this one. Of course as a pregnant woman, you’ll need to expand your wardrobe to accommodate the life growing in your tummy. I did purchase a few new items during my pregnancy, but I didn’t buy clothes that were marketed as maternity clothes. They cost a pretty penny, and since pregnancy has stages, you could end up wearing a maternity shirt for 1 or 2 months alone. What I did was purchase clothing from my favourite stores (or thrift shops), but in larger sizes. Aim for sales racks to save extra money. That way, you can still get items at competitive prices, while blending in with the general population. Once baby is out and the weight is down, you can save them for the next baby, donate them, or make adjustments and continue wearing them in your postpartum stage.

2. Throw a Baby Shower

There’s no doubt that baby showers are the best way to collect free baby products. If you decide to create a registry, be sure to select items you need, as opposed to what you might like. Don’t be afraid to choose big. A friend of mine surprised us with a new crib, which ended up saving us almost $200. I also suggest asking for gift cards to large department stores, so that you have the flexibility of purchasing a wide range of items for baby. Gift cards are also convenient because they can be saved to use at a later date.

3. Throw a Diaper Party

Not all husbands like attending baby showers. For that reason, some might prefer to throw diaper parties. It’s a way for the guys to get together, share food and/or drinks, and just hang out. The creativity in gift-giving is removed by the simple fact that men are asked to bring only diapers as gifts. What we did was ask guys to bring diapers of any size, and believe it or not, we didn’t have to purchase diapers for the first five months of our son’s life! Also, the leftovers were perfect for when the next baby came along. If you don’t plan to have more children, you can re-gift them for another expecting family, donate them or sell them locally.

4. Get Coupons From the Hospital

Many hospitals receive a number of free samples, and coupons for products to help new moms heal. I received free nursing pads, baby-related brochures, nipple cream samples, pads, and Aspirin. All these free samples add up, so accept whatever you can get from the hospital.

5. Breastfeed / Pump Milk if You Can

Breast milk isn’t only the healthiest option for a growing baby, but it’s the most cost-efficient. A mother could save her family a minimum of $1,300 by choosing to breastfeed. Unfortunately, it’s not always an option. Issues such as returning to work, latching problems, health issues and more can hinder a mom from being able to breastfeed. In this case, choosing to invest in a breast pump would still save you some serious cash. You can borrow, rent, or even buy them second-hand.

6. Return / Sell Unwanted Gifts

If you managed to receive items that you don’t plan on using, return or sell them as soon as possible. Waiting too long might make it harder to sell them. You could also re-gift those items for someone else that might be having a baby in the near future.

7. Second-Guess Your Purchases

Before buying items for baby, ask yourself if you really NEED to purchase them. We considered buying a changing table, and then realized that using our bed, or a blanket on the carpeted floor would work just as well. We keep a basket with wipes and diapers handy, so that whenever we need to do a quick change at home, we can do it anywhere in the house.

8. Order Free Samples Online

There are a number of reputable companies that give out free samples to moms. You’ll be able to get formula samples, vouchers, special offers and more.

9. DIY Baby Items

Save cash by making some of your baby items yourself. Search online for homemade baby slings, booties, diaper bags, bibs and more. It’s a great way to save cash, and a productive use of time.

10. Homemade Baby Food

I can’t stress how much money you’ll save by making your own baby food. Store-bought jarred food has a limited amount of nutrients, and they’re costly, with restrictions on quantity and quality. Homemade baby food means YOU control what goes into your baby’s system, as well as the taste, quantity, and more. Also, raising a healthy baby means you could be saving on health costs in the future.

[ad_2]

Source by Alyssa M.

[ad_1]

Outsourcing web design projects has lately been looked as a major cost-cutting measure for many mainstream businesses, particularly in the U.S. There are many advantages to this concept other than just reduced costs. It is also helpful in saving business outcomes in terms of labor and time. While cost savings still being the chief web design outsourcing benefit, the additional business controls produced by outsourcing firms are urging businesses to benefit from this unique opportunity.

Anyone new to this concept or the orthodox thinkers who still believe to keep their work within their domains is certainly not aware of the fruits outsourcing offers. Web design outsourcers certainly have an edge over the traditional thinkers and are enjoying great quality designing in reduced costs and additional returns.

Below are some high benefits you can score by outsourcing your web design projects:

Not just Cost Reductions-but rapid and consistent reductions!

The main reason behind organizations outsourcing their web design work is hidden in lower costs. Usually the outsource firms are located in offshore areas, and so the profits of the lower production cost are immense. But these cost reductions are not a one-time show; these reductions in cost are swift and consistent till the end.

Access to a swarm of designers and high-tech resources:

Outsourcing web design projects exposes you to a number of computer literate and highly creative designers. Equipped with the most advanced and latest technology available in the market, outsourcing firms caters to the ever increasing demand for creative designing services.

Make use of vast and diverse experience of web designers in designing:

The experience of outsourced web designers is extensive as they have handled many designing projects of different variations. This enables them to successfully realize your projects and take them to a higher level.

Central Control remains with you-just the burden doesn’t!

Outsourcing definitely doesn’t mean shifting your control along with the designing tasks. Ultimately, it’s you who has the authority to make final decisions. Remember, it’s the excessive burden you have shifted-not the power! Outsourcing design services allows you do divide your risks as well. Getting your designs wrong through internal staff can backfire directly, but if you outsource your web design to a website design company, there are fewer chances of such a risk.

Get your website a design that supports latest marketing trends:

Websites that are user-friendly, attractive, and exciting also position higher results in search engine results. Website Design Outsourcing will ensure that your site is on top of the latest trends and one step above of your competitors. You will clearly see your website increase its number of traffic, slowly converting your business dreams into realities.

Faster execution time-holding fast to deadlines:

A missed deadline is the biggest turn-off. Outsourced designers realize how important it is to complete a project within the specified time, and therefore, you will observe no delays in their execution time. You may give yourself a little space when it comes to completing a designing project, but when you have outsourced, you don’t have to worry about the exceeding deadlines.

By outsourcing web design to some best web designing services providers, the goals and expectations you wish to achieve regarding your website becomes clear. To know more about, good outsourcing practices regarding web designing, web application development and software development outsourcing, must visit Cyber Designz.

[ad_2]

Source by Bryan Williamz

[ad_1]

Layoffs are not a long-term answer for firms when they face tough times. Nine-eleven and the Great Recession tested firms with no-layoff policies. Southwest Airlines, Marriott, FedEx, Honeywell, Toyota, to name a few, passed the test. I should add that I am talking about permanent employees in non seasonal businesses. Here is a comment from a Southwest Airlines’ employee:

“I have never in my 13 years [at the company] felt that my job is in jeopardy due to the economy,” said Jill Kronman, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines.

Layoffs Versus Furloughs

Do furloughs give a better result than layoffs? The May-June 2018 Harvard Business Review article, Layoffs That Don’t Break Your Company, gives some insight. It shows that layoffs destroy value in the long-run. Not only do they destroy value, but they shatter lives. Honeywell’s experience in the Great Recession supports this view. Here are comments from its CEO:

As my leadership team began looking at options, we kept coming back to the idea of furloughs: Workers take unpaid leaves but remain employed. The conventional wisdom is that because furloughs spread the pain across the entire workforce, they hurt everyone’s morale, loyalty, and retention, so you’d do better to layoff a smaller number, focusing on weak performers… The process didn’t go perfectly [but] on the whole, our decision to use furloughs rather than layoffs was a success.

Furloughs Show Care For Employees

Layoffs deplete the firms’ talents. And it takes time and money to re-build. When a leader says her firm has a “financial crisis,” what does that mean? It’s a euphemism for problems with operations, demand, the economy, and so on, because finances are never the problem. So, if the CEO looks at the finances for the solution instead of what’s behind the numbers, the CEO will make a poor long-term decision that will harm the firm. One of the dumbest responses is to layoff a percentage of staff in each department. It’s a simplistic, misguided, lazy way to destroy long-term value. Some departments might need more people to seize post recession opportunities!

Faced with falling revenues, depleted cash, and rising costs, what should a firm do? During the Great Recession, Bob Chapman, Barry-Wehmiller’s CEO, opted for furloughs, not layoffs. In his book Everybody Matters, The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Chapman and Raj Sisodia state: In a family, when times get tough you don’t layoff anyone but seek solutions to solve the crisis. After the furloughs, Chapman noted that furloughs shared the sacrifice but, in the end, it didn’t seem like a huge sacrifice. In fact, the three years following the furloughs, were record years. To recognize what their team members gave up, the company reinstated the 401K match and then “paid them back” funds lost had the firm not suspended the match.

Furloughs help to keep talent, build a caring culture, hike morale, and is more profitable in the long run. But this approach needs a long term view. Further, the firm must value and invest in its workers. When a firm keeps its employees and treats them well, it will benefit. That is one reason family-owned businesses do better than non-family owed businesses. A 2018 study alluded to the long-run view that family companies adopt in their decision-making. For instance, these companies reinvest a higher percentage of funds instead of buying back shares like short-term focussed firms.

Manage Cost Drives Not Costs

When a firm believes its costs are too high, the first approach should be to look at its mission and strategy, and compare with its activities. Are we doing what we should do? Firms must understand where they are-what they are doing-before deciding to adjust their activities. Costs are never problems but symptoms. They show the score!

Managers and leaders manage the wrong things. They try to manage costs; but nobody can’t manage costs. I repeat: costs represent the score as in a hockey or football game. We must isolate cost drivers and manage those, such as energy contract and energy consumption, not total energy costs. “Cost cutting” and “people cutting” are foolhardy and wasteful exercises as the Harvard article shows.

People work on activities. Removing people don’t remove their jobs. That removes skills, talents, and experience, but projects and other stuff needed to carry out the mission remain. When the firm faces challenges, it must assess projects and activities necessary for the mission and define their resource needs in people and money. This reassessment should lead to a better understanding of whether the firm moved away from its mission and how it needs to return. To deal with excess people, the firm can combine furloughs, a hiring freeze, retraining, and refocusing.

Before a leader decides to layoff her staff, she should ask: Why do I have too many people? Often the answer lies in poor (or no) formal decision-making process, short term focus, bad growth, over-investments, veering from mission, and, or a lack of focus. Leaders must look long term and know the economy cycles between peaks and troughs. In good times, they must match growth with long-term resource capacity-people and financial. That’s Jim Collins’ 20-mile march. Further, the leader needs to ask whether the firm has the right people in the right places. Are they cooperating and working on the mission? This analysis will identify the problem which layoffs won’t solve.

Will firms continue their no layoffs policy during this pandemic? That’s the million dollar questions. I expect many firms will stick to no layoffs because that’s the better approach for the long term viability of the firm. And that’s how to manage for the long run to create value for the firm!

[ad_2]

Source by Michel A. Bell

[ad_1]

The adaptation of the office to the digital world has been a much slower process than most technology experts envisioned. The “paperless office”, once the goal of many organizations, has finally been achieved for many but with some room left for improvement. Most of the cost savings by going paperless have not been fully realized. Costs of paper management have gone up in all areas:

– Purchase price

– Copying

– Printing

– Storing

– Disposal

– Recycling

One area that offices can realize savings and to cut waste is in the use of office stationary: letters, proposals, legal documents and other uses. It is not always necessary, to print all documents on stationary. Some can be stored on an office computer’s hard drive. The printing and mailing of documents can be reduced through the use of e-mailing or in some cases, texting. If the office uses any forms, these can usually be converted to an online entry format. Proofreading an online copy of a document, viewing it on the screen, and making edits and changes, can save on the extra step and waste of printing a draft copy.

Technology such as printers and office copier use should be reviewed to make sure that wasteful printing and copying is not taking place. An office worker may attempt to get their printed material off the office printer or copier only to find that they cannot locate their documents. It is not uncommon for someone else to accidentally pick up the wrong documents, so the worker then simply prints out another set. To stop this many office copier/printers have features that allow the user to put in a secure personal code at the printer/copier station prior to printing. This procedure can save a lot of paper and costs. Scrap stationary can easily be used for memo pads or notes.

Finally, there is an environmental cost to the use of office stationary. Paper production and usage is destructive and is a large contributor towards pollution and the exhaustion of natural resources such as trees and other plants. Maintaining a stationary use policy may require consulting with technology providers to optimize the use of computers and printing peripheral devices. In high volume use of stationary, an office might consider outsourcing large print jobs to companies that have implemented paper saving and environmental initiatives. The general rule to better manage stationary waste is reuse, reduce and recycle.

[ad_2]

Source by Jazmine Smith

[ad_1]

Reducing the number of events you are running is one way to handle budget reductions; however automating a number of the event processes involved is the more proactive and effective way of managing budget cuts. Most event organisers, whether in a local authority or in the commercial events market, just want to do more for less and the implementation of an online event software solution can help them achieve this by:

• Reducing staff costs through the automation of processes
• Promoting a paperless office through the implementation of a fully web based solution
• Closely monitoring and managing budgets and costs
• Giving you time savings through the integration with all internal business applications
• Implementing an unlimited user site licence which can be used across multiple services / disciplines
• Providing multiple deployment options with low installation costs

Event Efficiency & ROI

Event managers in both the commercial market and within local authorities can improve the efficiency of their event management practices by making use of event software. An online event solution, once implemented, will ensure your organisation adopts best practice event management processes by controlling and managing the automation of these activities from one central location. Utilising a software solution designed specifically for event management has proven to have huge cost and time saving benefits through the management of the following activities:

• Website Integration
• Event Microsites
• Online Registration
• Event Communication
• E-Invite
• E-Survey
• Badge Production
• Resource Management
• Management of Financials
• Travel Management
• Meeting Scheduler
• Event Reporting and Analysis

Measuring your event ROI is now more important than ever but how do you know how efficient your events are? Using event software is an effective way to increase efficiency, generate more revenue back to your business and to sustain your customers. Face to face event marketing is one of the easiest ways to measure whether you have met your event objectives and can be further simplified if you have the necessary tools in place, such as those found within an event software solution.

It is imperative that you are able to quantify the results and feedback post event and measure costs such as cost per delegate and overall event profitability; therefore allowing you to provide accurate projected sales forecast to your business. Event management systems let you do this and will process your event data for you making the evaluation and reporting process much simpler, less time consuming and more cost efficient.

Self Service Web Portal

So your budget has been reduced but how do you guarantee that your events don’t suffer because of this reduction? One way is to capture a delegates/citizens journey online through a self service web portal, this will demonstrate not only how committed you are to ensuring your delegates/citizens event journey is smooth but also ensuring your information is up to date, clean and accurate.

Implementing an online event solution with a fully functioning web self service portal will allow delegates to access their personal information from any location at any time. Delegates/citizens can view and book onto events via the categorised sections of the portal, from the comprehensive search mechanism and via the events calendar. Once booked onto an event, reminders, notifications and updates can easily be communicated to all relevant parties. Using an online, multi faceted event solution will enable you to manage, monitor and control all services online through a fully functioning self service portal. The portal will mimic your existing website using your specific branding and domain URLs for commercial and government services and for all types of events such as;

• Seminars
• Workshops
• Conferences
• Internal corporate meetings
• Training courses and
• Incentives
• Registrar appointments
• MOT registrations
• Bikeability
• Outdoor activities
• Refuse collection
• Pest control

The event booking portal is your delegates/citizens online view into the events/appointments that you are running and is the one place where they can manage their event bookings and their online events profile. An online comprehensive self service web portal will allow the event manager to be well organised, multi-task and provide your organisation with clear efficiency gains such as time savings, cost savings and improved event performance.

In the case of local authorities this will cut down costs significantly as delegates/citizens are only able to book appointments dependent on certain criteria. Using an example of booking a registrar appointment for notices of marriages, the criteria required to book such an appointment is dependent on a large number of variants. Applicants must answer a set of questions such as whether it is a civil partnership or not, nationalities, country of residence, district they live in, age, time of residence in said district etc. An online self service booking portal in such a case provides a cohesive journey for the citizen/delegate asking them these required qualification questions, leading to the final stage of allowing them to book an appointment online (if they meet the set criteria). If they are unable to book an appointment due to a failure to meet the requirements, the reasons are explained along with action steps to help them get to the next stage in the process. Giving citizens/delegates the ability to book appointments online in this way ensures the registrars time is utilised efficiently.

In the case of a commercial events organisation, utilising a self service portal has a number of clear and defined efficiency benefits, from clean and accurate data through to enhanced delegate management. A self service event portal will allow the delegate to register online – from the point of booking, to payment, to registering on the day; ensuring the delegates’ journey is quick, painless and error free. Events that have low efficiency are events that have been poorly organised and managed and will leave the delegates with an inadequate experience, resulting in reduced delegate attendance for future events.

Event management software can help event managers plan more successful events with a greater level of efficiency. But the benefits aren’t just to the event managers – delegates/citizens can reap the rewards of more flexible and appropriate communication, fewer errors and improved event experiences. With the event management industry being hit with rising costs, reduced budgets and lower delegate attendance, it’s crucial that businesses organising events are as efficient as possible and continually find ways to improve their event processes. It is the companies that tackle efficiency issues head on, and employ the use of technology who will ensure their events are successful now and in the future.

[ad_2]

Source by Sarah Beale

[ad_1]

A key question that all procurement professionals face is… am I paying the right price? The purpose in analysing prices and costs is to satisfy ourselves that the amount we are paying is fair.

One way to do this is by analysing the price without investigating the costs used by the supplier in arriving at the price. Essentially you are comparing the price against yardsticks of reasonableness.

Cost analysis, on the other hand, looks at the individual components that make up the price and asks if they are a reasonable reflection of the cost of an efficient process for producing those goods or service.

Generally speaking, price analysis will only ever give you an indication of fairness for simple procurements for which there is ample evidence of similar procurements in the public domain.

On the other hand, cost analysis can rarely be sufficient without price analysis being done in support. For example, suppose you are buying a bespoke laptop computer and your supplier has provided the following cost components:

Materials 160

Labour 80

Overheads 80

Development costs 1,000,000

Profit 40

Price 1,000,360

All of the cost components and the profit look reasonable. Even the £1 million development cost could be justified on the basis of the set up costs for the supplier. But a simple price comparison using any number of publicly available sources would quickly demonstrate that a price of more than £1m for a laptop.

So how about cost analysis. Take the example of a cleaning contract. You may have arrived at the conclusion by using price analysis that the price you are paying is fair. But what you really want is to get the best value for money for every pound or dollar spent. If you want to be world class your costs will have to be the best obtainable consistent with the quality and service required.

So, here are some additional things you can do to test the components in your cost analysis. Check the specification to ensure that you are not asking for too much… more than you actually need. For example, you may clean everywhere once a day. Why do you clean daily? For example, why clean archive rooms to the same frequency as busy open plan offices?

You could reduce your labour costs in this way by, say, 20% which means a saving of 20% of 80% (the total cost of the labour content) or 16% overall!

Don’t forget to ask for the material costs to go down when you reduced the frequency of cleaning – cleaning less often uses less cleaning materials. If you don’t do this, the extra profit goes to your cleaning supplier.

Finally, you can work with your supplier to eliminate any “waste” left in the system and share the cost savings. For example:-

o you can extend the contract to enable the purchase of better equipment

o you can map the entire process and find and eliminate the sources of variability (service or quality)

o you can make the process leaner by, for example, teaching our staff to be tidier and make them responsible for areas

o you can extend the range of services they provide (e.g. waste management) to spread their overheads and make savings in other areas.

Your chosen supplier ends up by being even more professional and probably gets more work from your recommendation – a true partnership.

[ad_2]

Source by Stephen C Carter

[ad_1]

Construction material cost has been steadily increasing over the years.

5 years ago, the average construction cost in Nairobi for a medium-priced building was KES 15,000 per square meter.

Currently, this cost has increased by 68% to an average of KES 22,000 per square meter for the same.

The trend does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.

Therefore, we need to think outside the box to keep costs low and still maintain the same or oven higher quality of construction.

This can be achieved by using ingenious methods of cost-cutting from the foundation stage through to the finishes.

FOUNDATION

On average, foundation costs approximately 10% of the total cost of construction.

The main works in a foundation are:

1. Excavation

2. Reinforced concrete works [foundation footing and ground floor slab]

3. Masonry walling to ground floor level

Excavation costs can be reduced by use of machinery -Excavators. An excavator is hired at an average cost of KES 6000 per hour and would take 2 to 3 hours to excavate the foundation of a 3 bedroom house.This brings the cost to kes 6000 x3=kes 18,000.

Excavating the same using manual labour would take an average of 7 days with 10 men at a cost of kes 300 each per day. This brings the cost to KES 300 X 10 X 7=KES 21,000.

Reinforced concrete works

This consists of concrete reinforced with twisted steel.

A cubic meter of concrete on average takes 7 bags of cement and will cost a minimum of KES 8,000.

A cubic meter of masonry stone consists of 75 stones of 300mm long by 200mm wide. Each stone costs an average of KES 25. This estimates to approximately KES 25 X 75= KES 1,875.

This is approximately 75% cheaper than concrete.

The reinforced concrete foundation footing can be replaced with masonry walling to achieve this great saving.

Ground Floor slab.

On average, a reinforced concrete ground floor slab costs KES 1,200 per square meter.

Masonry walling laid horizontally can replace this slab. A square meter of masonry walling using machine cut stones costs KES 40 X 15 Stones= kes 600. Add KES 100 for cement plaster and this brings it to KES 700 per square meter. This constitutes a savings of nearly 45%.

Old colonial houses built in the early 1900s in Kenya utilised these cost-cutting methods and are still standing to date.

A good example is the Officer’s Mess at the National Youth Service Bahati Farm in Nyandarua.

The foundation footing and floor slab is made of masonry walling and it still stands to date, nearly 100 years from the day it was constructed.

With the passing of the new constitution, we hope that such a method of foundation construction will be allowed by the Local Authority. The current Building Code in Kenya specifies too much concrete/cement used hence resulting in a high cost of foundation construction.

Conclusion.

With the use of Machinery for excavation [15% savings] and use of masonry to replace reinforced concrete on foundation footing [75% savings] and ground floor slab [45% savings], this will greatly save on the overall foundation construction costs.

Francis Gichuhi

http://www.a4architect.com

[ad_2]

Source by Frank Gichuhi

[ad_1]

Outsourcing loan processing might not seem to be advantageous to most business owners. They might tick it off thinking that it adds to their already inflated bills. They cannot be farther from truth by thinking that as they would benefit their business in an unimaginable way if they are going to outsource loan processing. The outsourcing service provider will not only minimize otherwise avoidable expenses, it will provide best possible services, something unachievable with in-house professionals.

It can be debated whether the biggest advantage of outsourcing loan processing is considerable cost saving or access to a vast pool of talent. Apart from that lenders are saved from making sizable investments in ensuring security of their systems and requisite upgrades every now and then. All they need to do is to reap the benefits of outsourcing and take their businesses to new heights.

Access to a vast talent pool

Outsourcing loan processing happens to provide lenders access to a vast talent pool comprising of highly qualified and trained professionals, who are among the best in the industry. They are provided with appropriate training that happens to prepare them for changes in rules and regulations that have significant impact on loan processing.

If business owners try to handle the same on their own, they will need to make significant investments in hiring and training in-house professionals. This is entirely an unnecessary expense on part of the lenders and is done away with once loan processing is outsourced. Another hassle that they will be spared from is retaining talent, something that haunts the entire industry, thereby preventing them from more troubles.

Immense cost saving

Cost saving is another major advantage of outsourcing loan processing. As and when lenders do that they are spared from spending even a penny for hiring professionals who handle loan processing, paying them monthly salary and all types of reimbursements. All they need to do is to pay the outsourcing company a certain sum on per-case basis, something both parties can agree upon among themselves prior to building a partnership.

This essentially leads to better utilization of available resources as well. Business owners can use their otherwise limited resources in an optimum manner, in any way they want. In this way, they can maximize their profits by allocating available finances towards advertising, lead generation and other activities that directly lead to revenue generation.

Reduced need of system security and upgrades

Companies performing loan processing with the help of in-house systems would know how difficult it is to put security systems in place and updating them every now and then. It puts serious pressure on their limited finances, thereby leading to a question mark on very existence of their business. If they opt for outsourcing loan processing, the need for same is eliminated altogether, enabling them to focus on furthering their business interests.

The above mentioned advantages of this processing are too lucrative to ignore. Business owners who wish to stay profitable in these difficult times ought to think about the same.

[ad_2]

Source by Amitabh Saboo

[ad_1]

Even the most successful of businesses inevitably face a cash crunch or two during their lifetime during which paying bills, giving employee wages, handling operational costs, etc become a nightmare. Here’s how to avert such adverse events through cost-cutting strategies.

We’re not talking about laying off employees or cutting corners from an already tight budget. We’re talking about practical ways like the ones below to save your business a substantial sum of money every month.

Make friends with technology

Is that document submission process taking too long? Is accounting eating into your team’s valuable time? Use technology! Many companies feel that investing in such products is a waste of money but very few realise that time is money. Using products and services saves time and minimises instances of manual error, making work smooth and thereby, giving more room to creativity.

Test before you buy

Seasoned shoppers all have one mantra; “One needs to shop around before buying.” Similarly, companies too should not jump on a product and purchase it for the entire team. Most products offer free trials or discount offers for the first month which gives your team to test it out and then purchase it. In case the tool does not offer free trials, buy it for an individual before purchasing for the entire team. Make sure to compare different products available in the market, consider their pricing, read reviews by peers, etc before making a decision.

Buy in bulk

Buying in bulk is a money-saving principle used by businesses, big and small. Be it the retail shop owner across the street or designers who bulk buy fabrics to make profits, it is always cheaper to purchase in bulk. Buy essentials like office supplies, like paper, printer cartridges, etc or products like tissues, coffee, etc. in bulk. You may be able to save thousands this way.

Track every little expense

Keep a record of all miscellaneous expenses or buy tools to track every kind of expense no matter how small or insignificant they look. Small expenses often add up and create bottlenecks when claiming taxes. The best way to track these expenses is to save all the receipts and review credit card settlements at the end of the month. There are many apps and service products that can help with this.

Review expenses every quarter

Purchased a SaaS tool last quarter? Don’t forget to stop the subscription once you no longer require it! If you forget, you will find that your business is burdened by services you never use that simply weigh down the balance sheet.

Find creative alternatives to traditional vendors

Some services are required by every business irrespective of their size. If you are looking for HR and Recruitment services don’t just rely on conventional options but explore and then select the agency or services based on your requirements.

Apply credit card rewards points for gift card purchases

Use your credit card reward points to purchase gift cards to minimise business expenses like employee gifts, office supplies or travel. You can save thousands with these points.

Renegotiate your payment terms and timelines with clients

If yours is a B2B Business and your clients ask for payment terms of 30-90 days, offer them a discount on their next purchase in exchange of timely payment. Alternatively, you could also give a discount on current invoices in return for early payment that can boost your business growth and maintain a healthy cash flow through invoice discounting platforms.

[ad_2]

Source by Ashutosh Sahu