Postage & mail

Drop off mail early - usually delivered in 2 days to most places - a 80% - 90% savings compared to priority mail.

For urgent shipments - check pricing with UPS or FedEx, sometimes cheaper than Express Mail. The opposite can be true for Saturday Deliveries.

Use media mail for books, catalogs, DVD's, CD's & magazines - usually about 50% cheaper.

Email invoices instead of mailing them. Most billing software allows this. There are also some online billing services that you can subscribe to. Depending on volume, the cost per invoice can be lower than first class mail.

Bank online vs. mailing checks - if you are paying a lot of bills, the savings add up - no cost to printing checks or buying envelopes either!

If you do large volume mailings - check to see if you qualify for USPS's bulk rates.

Electronic Postage - Depending on volume, savings can range form 3% - 10%

Indirect overhead costs - a profit opportunity?

Do we realize that a small amount of savings has a significant impact on profit. Consider this - if you save $10,000 a year in some area of expense (telecommunications, energy, supplies???). The impact that has on your business is the same as $100,000 in increased revenue if you are operating at 10% margins!

At BCM we specialize in savings our clients money. In the last three years, our clients have collectively saved well of 500,000 a year. Depending on the interest, I will, in the coming days and weeks, post some simple cost control strategies particularly focused at small business.