These days, many small business owners tend to find themselves fighting an ongoing battle between keeping their costs as low as possible while also providing themselves the best avenues for success. And unfortunately for many entrepreneurs, it seems that these two ideals don’t always link up perfectly, and thus owners have to find the best way to balance them in many situations.
For instance, many companies might think that when it comes to their systems, they can often get by on free offerings available online, according to a report from Fox Business. And while that’s true in some cases – thanks to open-source software that is designed specifically to compete with and provide a free or low-cost alternative to more popular offerings – it certainly doesn’t apply in all situations. This may be particularly true as companies find a greater foothold in their areas and become more successful.
“It’s really easy to go the free route when you’re small or just starting out,” Mario Schulzke, founder of IdeaMensch, an online community designed to help people bring their ideas to life, told the site. “With increased growth, it’s oftentimes a good idea to up your technology investments as well. Most times smart tech investments pay for themselves.”
What can safely stay free, and what can’t?
One of the biggest things that companies today deal with on an ongoing basis is their email, and experts say they’re more than wise to just use a free service such as Gmail in these cases, the report said. In fact, Google offers many services for little or no cost that can be extremely valuable, such as data storage in the cloud, scheduling software, or document creation platforms.
On the other hand, many companies also try to keep their costs down by relying on the cheapest web hosting and accounting services they can find, but these are often areas critical to ongoing success, the report said. As a result, it’s often wise for them to avoid scrimping on these expenses in particular, because any missteps here can be extremely damaging.
Owners looking to cut their ongoing costs so that they can devote more money to other aspects of their companies may want to consider finding more affordable small business insurance. By cutting costs on errors and omissions insurance, for instance, they may be able to save thousands of dollars annually.
