15 Ways to Reduce Cost Running Your Business in Nigeria

15 Ways to Reduce Cost Running Your Business in Nigeria

One of the major aims of running a business is to maximize profits and to that end, many entrepreneurs aspire and strive hard to do so. However, many in the strife to make profits forget the things that matter. Know that as much as you can make profits through sales, you can also make more profits by reducing cost. Cost of goods, on services, on advertisement and so on. The best way to reduce business cost is to identify the necessary from the unnecessary. Identifying the things that really matters and investing more in them will help you earn more income. It’s about time you stopped investing in things that do not matter. This post will help you identify some of the strategies you can employ to reduce cost and increase profits in your business.

1. Technology: technology goes a long way in enhancing sales and cost control. With various technological measures, you could spend less. With technology you could streamline your communication by minimizing face to face meetings (if you really have to meet) and holding more of online meetings. There are chat apps all over the internet that you could use in holding your meetings, you could create chat groups and disseminate important information there, then make sure you track the message to know the number of members who have seen it , and to those who haven’t seen it or have not viewed it, you could send a push notification to them as a reminder to check the message. This way, you have saved cost and even time. Applications like zoom (if you are so keen about face to face contact), WhatsApp, connectteam and many other chatapps can server your purpose.
2. Use less of paper: by moving from Paper and pen to digital, you could help streamlining your operations. Do you even know how much cost you spend on papers, Flyers, Stickers etc.? I do not rebuke you from making stickers and flyers, of course they contribute to business promotion, rather I am insinuating that you should spend less on paper promotion and focus on digital promotion. With digital promotion, you spend less and even reach a wider audience.
3. Negotiate: have you ever followed your mum to the market?. If yes, have you ever seen your mum priced a good to an extent that you start pitying the seller?. I know you are laughing, but the truth is, at the end, your mum always ended up acquiring the priced goods. It is the same thing with running a business. Don’t be scared of negotiation, you are bent on making profits, whoever is selling to you also wants to make sales, at the end, if your negotiation profits him, he’ll sell, if otherwise, you go elsewhere.
4. Cut cost on landline: don’t use landlines. This is not an era of landlines, we have smartphones instead. Instead of using landlines, use smart phones. The cost of funding a landline is more expensive than that of a smart phone .
5. Employ modern marketing strategies: you do not have to totally eliminate paid advertising, but there are however, cheaper opportunities you could explore like building your social media presence; having a social media account and building your online presence will help you extend your network and also foster advertisement. Doing more of in-house marketing rather than paying somebody to it for you will be an added advantage. .
6. Budget: create a budget. Just as it is important to have a business plan, so also is it important to have a business budget. There is no way you can control your spending if you don’t have a budget. Having a budget helps you know how much cost to invest in.

7. Location: if having a location or office is not important to your kind of business, then don’t get one . Why waste money on renting an office when you could actually save it and invest in something better?. Unless your job mandates, you could work from home.

 

Read Also: 7 Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

8. Buy used items: people are no longer scared of buying used items again, since it now looks like a normal thing to do. You could save up a lot from buying used equipment than you ever would from the purchase of new equipment.

9. Employ Interns: this is a way of improving production and cutting cost. Instead of hiring and paying some more workers, you could decide to hire interns instead who would be willing to work with you just to add a few more to the experiences on their CVs and a letter of recommendation from you when the need arises.

10. Freelancing: what you need might not be a long term graphic designer or web developer. Employing the service of a freelancer might be your answer. However, finding a competent freelancer with cheap price might be difficult. Sites like Fiverr, upwork are places you can find freelancers.

15 Ways to Reduce Cost Running Your Business in Nigeria

11. Spend less on traveling; as much as it could be so much fun to travel, it could also be so much fun to save traveling costs. Be it conference, webinar, you could attend them all from your home even in your pajamas. Unless it is mandatory, you should opt for other options like zoom, Skype.

12. Save on electricity: electricity bill can be a ridiculously high in some places like Nigeria, so be strict on electricity use. Turn off lights when you are not using them, unplug equipment that are not currently in use, secure a space with sun light access, use florescent bulbs (they are more expensive but consume less power and are long lasting).

13. Shop local: instead of buying from big establishments whose prices are fixed, you could buy from the local guy who sells the same product just as the big establishments. This way, you could negotiate for good and friendlier prices (which you will never get a chance to do if it was at any of the big establishments or stores).

14. Ask for discounts: don’t be too shy to ask for discounts, if you are concerned about cutting costs, this is a chance for you, who knows, you might get the discount you requested for.

15. Advertise online: advertising online does not only help you reach a wider audience, it also helps you to cut cost on production. It is cheaper to advertise online.

Knowing the necessary things and doing them matters, explore these tips today and see a tremendous increase in profit.

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