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Money – How to save it when you're in business
If you own or manage a business, then there's one book that you definitely should read. And sooner rather than later!
That's because its contents have the potential to save you and your business a lot of money.
The book that I'm referring to is titled '313 Ways to Slash Your Business Overheads'.
According to Gary Long, the book's author, he wrote it to help business people 'to keep operating costs to a minimum'.
Sounds simple enough in theory, but it's a lot harder in practice unless you have some workable, money-saving strategies in place. And that's exactly what you get with '313 Ways to Slash Your Business Overheads'.
As Long correctly points out in the opening pages of his book, 'controlling costs is not just a case of cutting expenses to save money. It's about developing a culture within your business that is committed to eliminating inefficiencies, minimising wastage, reducing loss and investing your money in purchases that will give you the maximum return on every dollar spent'.
You might be wondering though, at this stage, how Long arrived at the rather strange number of 313 ways to slash overheads. The answer is that he has come up with a bright idea for every day of the year, with one day off a week!
That leads us to another problem that nearly all business people suffer from, and that is, finding enough time in a busy week to read books such as Long's book.
Long himself readily acknowledges this problem, and accordingly, he has structured his book in such a way to make it 'user friendly' to those readers who are 'time poor'.
For instance, there are fifteen chapters, each of which covers a separate area of cost saving. Examples of these areas include stationery and office supplies; computers, technology and office equipment; office and business premises; and energy conservation. There's even a chapter devoted to general cost saving ideas.
Having the book structured like this means that it can be picked up whenever you have a spare moment, allowing you to quickly read a page or two, or alternatively, just one of the 313 different strategies (all of which are individually numbered for ease of reference).
Of course, if you're really serious about slashing overheads, I would recommend that you read the entire book right through from start to finish.
Cutting costs is not rocket science. But in order to be successful, you need to have a cost saving plan in place, and then make sure that you, and all of your staff, diligently stick to it.
This book can form the basis of that plan.
As Long suggests in the preface to '313 Ways to Slash Your Business Overheads', 'you have all the information you need to cut costs right here in your hands so there is no need to reinvent the wheel. It's now just a matter of putting these valuable ideas into practice within your business and making them work for you'.
For more information about '313 Ways to Slash Your Business Overheads', drop into the Web site of the book's publisher, McGraw-Hill Australia