Tag: save money

If you are a business owner then you might know that some supplies like paper clips, toner, pens, paper, flash drives, computers, furniture and labels are an everyday requirement for the daily operations of your office. It’s a regular expense that is incurred by almost all businesses. If you have a medium or small-sized business then the office supplies cut your profit a lot. Many businesses have to overpay just for these supplies and bring down the profit of the business for a financial period. If you want to save your hard earned money on the office supplies you are in the right place. In this article, you will learn about the best tips to save your hard-earned money on office supplies.

How much does your office supplies cost?

Before revealing the top tips to save money on your office supplies, let’s first pay attention to the cost. The budget for these things varies from business to business. Businesses often end up spending hundreds of dollars per year just on these things. A report by the LAC group shows that on an average, most businesses spend around $200 a year for just one worker of office supplies; however, in a law firm the business spends around $1000 per worker a year for  these things because of their heavy paperwork. If you have 20 workers in your office you spend around $4000 a year on your office supplies however this can vary from business to business. So, sit down and calculate the monthly cost of these things first. Make sure to buy high-quality yet affordable supplies like Southwest Business Products

Regular Audits

Source: hwca.com

Conducting regular audits will be the first step for a business to save money on their office supplies. An audit keeps a record of these things, where the supplies are kept and which employee is using them. Conducting audits gives you a deep insight into the consumption of  these things in your office.

In case an audit tells you that your office uses a lot of paper clips you should encourage your workers to use the old paper clips from old documents instead of using fresh ones. On the other hand, if just one of your workers is using a lot of paperclips then you should talk to the employee personally to find out the reason why that employee is using a lot of supplies.

Buying supplies through a contract

If you buy your supplies in a contract you’ll be able to save hundreds of dollars. If you buy supplies in a contract you will have to pay less for them. In a contract you agree to purchase a fixed amount of supplies from the seller. The vendor then keeps sending you these fixed amounts of supplies every month. You may be thinking how will I save money from this. Most vendors offer a special discount to the enterprises that buy in bulk. The vendors pass down their profits as they know that you are going to buy from them every month. You should inquire about buying supplies in a contract today. If you want to benefit from purchasing supplies via a contract then calculate an estimated amount of supplies that your office needs. Don’t buy more than what you need.

Say goodbye to paper documents

Source: springpt.com

Paper might be cheap when compared with other office supplies but it might impact your cost. You couldn’t eliminate the use of paper from your business but you could reduce the dependency of your business on paper by switching your office work to digital documents. This will not only save your hard earned money but also your precious time. You should try to save your documents digitally rather than print them. It also makes it easier to share as your employees can share it easily.

Buy with a rewards credit card

Use a rewards business credit card while making a purchase for your office supplies as these types of cards will give you redeemable points or cash on eligible products. For example, on using a rewards business credit card to purchase $1000 worth of office supplies you earn about $10 – $50 as cashback.

This card charges you an interest on balances carried from one month to another. The annual interest rate varies from 10 per cent to 30 per cent, while some cards also charge an annual fee.

You should use a credit card to buy these things. It will create what is called a ‘digital paper trail’ of your expenses and hence recording your business finances would become a lot easier.

Shop online

Source: residencestyle.com

You shouldn’t ignore the savings of online shopping even if you have a local vendor for these things. Shopping online can save you money and they are also convenient as they deliver it at your doorstep. Many local stores have their own website and give special offers to those who purchase from them. Amazon has a special category for these things with thousands of products to choose from.  Note that Amazon is not the only website from where you can get these things, there are many more websites that offer affordable office supplies through their website.

Buy older models of computer and PCs equipment

You should avoid buying the latest models of computer equipment for your office when you are about to upgrade the PC at your office. you should try to purchase older models. You should replace the computers every four to five years as they get old and have technical bugs and slower speed.

You can save a lot of bucks per computer by buying a model released last year as the new ones are sold at a premium rate. In case your office has a lot of computers then you will end up saving several thousand dollars.

These were some of the best tips that will save you hundreds of dollars every month. Although office supplies are an integral part of a business, one should avoid spending too much on them as it will add to the cost and reduce your profits.

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