Forbes’ economic forecast for 2018 predicts steady consumer spending after a positive 2017. That should offer you motivation for the new year as you plan new ways to reach new customers.The beginning of the calendar year is the perfect time to strategize more ways to save your business money in 2018 and beyond. Think of it as New Year’s resolutions—business-owner style.Profits come from selling more products to more people, but they also come from cutting your up-front and in-house costs. By thinking about what you can do to increase your own profits outside of advertising and finding new customers, you can take control of your business with confidence in the new year.
Making a business plan is the first step toward materializing your hopes and dreams for your business. As the saying goes, a goal not written is only a wish. But a business plan is more than hopes and dreams—it’s an outline of what your business is and how it operates.Many businesses have to draw up a business plan to secure a small business loan, but perhaps you took another route and haven’t written one yet; or maybe your business has grown larger or faster than you could have anticipated and you need to revise your business plan with new goals and structure.Entrepreneur magazine suggests that your business plan be updated and revised often. Because your business is always changing and evolving, there’s always room to make improvements and streamline your processes. Reviewing your business plan will help you find ways you can save money or areas where you could reallocate funds to make your business run smoother.Review your books to see whether you met your projections—and if not, look to see why. Also make sure you revise your tasks and milestones. Just hit $10k in monthly sales? Set a new—bigger—goal.
While reviewing your business plan, lay out the services you’re paying for and whether those services make your job (and life) easier or harder. Software and subscription services exist for every possible function these days. It’s up to you to evaluate whether those monthly withdrawals are a waste or a useful tool for you and your business.If there is a service you pay a monthly fee for, assess whether it is more cost efficient to buy the software outright or continue to pay on a monthly basis. Also assess whether your software is meeting your needs—and whether spending a bit more per month on a service can save you time and money. (Pssst … looking for a smart shipping solution to help you get packages out of the door sooner? SmartShyp offers a streamlined web platform that helps you manage orders and print postage, all at steeply discounted rates. Take a look!)Think a new solution might be in order? PCmag.com recently put out a list of the 50 best cloud services for small businesses. When selecting new business software and services, always remember that time is money, and saving time in 2018 can benefit your bottom line—and you.
The more you know, the more you can save. Data isn’t just for multi-million dollar companies; analytics can help you now and moving forward, especially with so many websites and services that will prepare the data and present it to you in a way that will help you make smart decisions about how to save your business money.Business News Daily lists 8 data solutions that can be adapted for small businesses (and businesses of any size). Google Analytics is a great place to start because all you need for Google to analyze data is your website.You can start making data-driven choices for your ecommerce business quickly and efficiently with analytics tools. You don’t have to rely on just your gut or make knee-jerk reactions to your business ledger—you can plan ahead for the future while analyzing your business trends today.