Starting your business? Hire out and save money

When you start your own business, times tend to be tough before it gets better. You provide a service, people pay you 30 or 60 days later, and in the meanwhile, you have to find enough cash to keep your business running. So one priority as you get started is to keep costs low. And while hiring out usually means paying more for things, it often equals to making a few smaller payments instead of a big one that may compromise your cash flow for the foreseeable future. Let’s have a look at services that may actually save you money when hiring out.

 

Self storage

The first thing that comes to mind is storage. If you sell goods, or need to store machinery or business equipment for short periods of time, it makes more sense to rent a storage unit rather than pay for more office space. First, because office space is often in the centre of town, so even if your storage needs are rather permanent, you will pay less per square metre in a storage unit in the suburbs than for premium offices in town. Second, storage units offer you the opportunity to upgrade and downgrade as your needs vary. It is less likely to happen with office space. And last, when you are done with it, you can cancel your lease, while it would be hard to ask your office landlord to rent only half of the office that month.

Shredding services

There are a number of companies such as Datashredders that offer onsite confidential shredding. I see that part rather like a “we wouldn’t do it well” kind of situation, like hiring an accountant would save you hundreds in taxes. If your company doesn’t handle its shredding of confidential documents adequately, you risk security breaches, that may cost you a fortune in the long run. So better safe than sorry, that is typically the thing you should hire out if you want some peace of mind.

Conference rooms

The same way you would use a storage unit, a conference room is something you only need once in a while, and don’t need to pay for monthly as extra office space. Some offices will rent you a room for a flat hourly rate, providing as little or as much extras as you need, such as boards, projectors, or conference call lines. Many clients will agree on an online call, saving both parties time and money, but for the few who like to meet face to face, they will be better in a neutral environment and those places are also pretty easy to find, unlike some small businesses little known to the neighbourhood.

Seasonal staff

Another danger to get too much overhead is hiring too many people to get started. Most temp agencies will find you staff for the following week, and in the meanwhile current employees will probably be happy to get a little salary bump thanks to extra hours. So unless you’re permanently stretched, how about looking for temps instead? The hourly rate will be higher, but they will work exactly when you want to instead of having to pay them full time. Most times, you will be able to request the same person again, saving on training time as well.