10 Money-Saving Tips For Businesses

Eliminate or reduce a whole range of non-essential expenses your customers don't see or need, as well as boost your balance sheet and drive more sales with our expert tips

Updated 6 April 2020

​​New Zealand’s economy changed forever in 2020, creating a challenging environment for businesses. With household incomes challenged and the property market heading downwards, businesses all over the country were caught out. In this new era, cash is king, and a strong balance sheet is essential.

This guide is published (and updated) to help Kiwi business owners cut back on non-essentials while getting the best deal for banking and financing. We also see an opportunity for businesses of any size still using traditional accounting and invoicing to upgrade to a cloud service (i.e. Xero) to speed up cash collection and save on wages. 

We believe that any business who actions 2 to 5 suggestions from the list below could easily cut back on 5% to 15% of their operating costs while boosting their cash position. There's never a bad time to cut back on what you don't need, want or use. 

Do you have a business money-saving tip that you’d like us to share? Email our research team to help improve this guide.

Stop paying for SEO Services and Do it Yourself (for free)

This may not apply to the majority of businesses, but we've listed it first to avoid anyone being caught out. SEO, short for search engine optimisation, involves work to get your website visible in Google. However, the services to this task have long been smoke and mirrors, as have the prices and effectiveness. You can easily pay $500 a month and see no results.

Winning ideas:

1. Invest the time in getting online reviews via Google for Business and a Facebook Business page (see below)
2. Spend the time writing 10-20 FAQs that your customers most frequently ask. You can then publish this on your website, and attract more customers as well as building trust.
3. Write 1,500 word to 2,500-word guides on something your customers ask about is better than any SEO service you can pay for. MoneyHub receives between 400 and 1,000 users every hour during the week, and 95% of them come via Google. 

Investing in Reviews:
Google for Business - this is essential for placing your business on the Google map. You can also attract reviews, list your opening hours and upload business photos. It's easy, free and instant, although you may have to wait a couple of weeks to verify your address. The earlier you complete it, the sooner you will be on the Google map.

Business Facebook Page - The best approach is to set up a business page, exactly as this guide outlines, to maximise the visibility. 

MoneyHub Christopher Walsh comments:
"I hired a reputable SEO company a few years ago, with the pricing fixed at $2,500 per month. Close to the end of that month, I asked for a report, but the response was evasive. I followed up, and eventually got a list of five or six links that I could have created in half an hour. I was beyond disappointed. But, as things turned out, I was told about Brian Dean (and SEO expert who shares his information for free) and learned SEO skills that directly led to results. It is that knowledge that helps MoneyHub rank #1 for thousands of popular search terms today. I will never use an SEO company because, in most cases, you don't have any oversight into what is being done, and the pricing is very expensive. A DIY approach is better in every way". 

Estimated savings: If your business has an SEO agency, check their effectiveness by following our SEO guide here. If you decide to drop the agency and follow a DIY SEO approach, it's likely you'll save $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

Avoid Rip-off Foreign Currency Fees and User a Fee-Free Debit Card

if you spend NZ$10,000+ a year in foreign currencies, it's likely you're paying $200 or even $300 in foreign exchange fees on debit and credit cards. Only two cards, the TransferWise Debit Card and Flight Centre Mastercard, eliminate the foreign currency fees all the banks love charging. The TransferWise debit card is free, gives you the best exchange rate and doesn’t charge any such fees. If you want a credit card, Flight Centre’s offering gives a number of benefits as well as 0% FX fees. While neither of these options are 'business cards', you can then charge back all the expenses to your business. 

Estimated savings: 2% to 3% on whatever you spend. If you’d normally spend around $50,000 a year on purchases made in non-NZD currencies, you’ll save at least $1,000 to $1,500. Better yet, with the TransferWise Debit Card and Flight Centre Mastercard, you’ll get the best currency exchange rate and save even more. 

Lower Overdraft Costs, Consider a Business Credit Card and Get Better Lending Terms

Banking can be expensive and cash-burning if you're stuck with the wrong account or financing. If you're a sole trader and need a better overdraft deal, our overdraft guide has you covered. Our Business Loans guide publishes the latest offers and deals available. Above all, make an effort to talk to your bank and carve out a better deal for your banking, 

Bonus tip - speed up cash collection: MoneyHub is a big fan of Xero, and despite $60+ a month subscription fees, it lets you chase debtors automatically with reminders. This significantly advances the speed of cash collection, and the return on investment from paying Xero is, for most businesses, significant. We discuss Xero more in point 8 below.

Challenge Your Advertising ROI (Print and Digital) and Eliminate What Doesn't Work

Many media companies, including magazine publishers, radio stations, news sites and influencer marketing agencies closed down in 2020. Advertisers, when realising no one was buying their products in a troubled economy, stopped buying ads overnight. Before COVID-19, the same media companies frequently raked in a lot of advertising revenue without much return on investment analysis. Instead, sales reps invited their clients to long lunches with no expense spared. Today it's very different - every dollar spent on media must return $1,50, $2 or $3+ to be sustainable.

If you have a marketing budget, examine where you've spent the money. Advertising is not a science, so knowing what worked and what didn't can be near-impossible. However, it's safe to say that services like Yellow Pages and Star of Service are, arguably, highly ineffective and expensive to operate. 

Tip: If you want great public relations and buzz, take direct action. Make the time to develop great client relationships by keeping your existing clients loyal. To action this, print off a list of your clients and call them up and thank them for being loyal. 

Estimated savings: There is no limit - but cutting the budget down to $0 and seeing the effect may mean you see no difference anyway. We would estimate at least a $1,000 saving can be made by most businesses buying print-press media advertising.

Re-Negotiate Building Lease/Rental Costs, Phone Plans and Internet

There's a good chance your business is paying too much for equipment leases, internet, phones and even power. Look at your monthly costs and talk to your provider - we predict the short to medium-term to become something of a buyers market now. Cut back where you can by reaching out proactively and having a discussion on costs.

Estimated savings: At least $1,000 to $2,000 if you do a full sweep of expenses. Phone costs are likely to be the most expensive, especially if you use roaming (as our roaming guide explains). 

Consider Vehicle Leasing (given the Tax and Financing Benefits)

If you're paying car finance costs while the value of the vehicle depreciates, switching to a lease can make sense. Operating leases have several advantages which save money every week and fix the cost:

1. The cost is 100% tax-deductible as an operating expense
2. In most cases, the leasing company has the responsibility of maintaining the vehicle
3. The contract appears ‘off-balance sheet’, meaning the remaining lease cost won’t appear as a liability on your accounts
4. You don’t need to borrow or invest a large amount of working capital to buy a vehicle outright, meaning you can use the free money on something productive that boosts sales or production capacity (or both) 
5. Lease payments are fixed and easy to budget for. 

Our vehicle leasing guide has further details. 

Estimated savings: If your business is paying a 10% interest rate on a $30,000 vehicle, you're paying $3,000 per year in interest costs in addition to the repayment amount. Add on tyre replacement and unplanned repairs and it's highly probable that a vehicle lease could save your business $5,000.

Audit Your Expenses and Cut Back

Challenging where you incur business expenses can only be done when you have completeness of information. To deep dive, don't use your accounting records. Instead, print off three months of business bank statements and highlight expenses you don't understand, remember or believe are essential. Use a highlighter to flag products and services you don't think are needed and annotate each item with a sentence as so why. Once you identify three unnecessary expenses, finding more will be easier. Create a shortlist to keep track - if it's a bit thin, re-read the statements and be ruthless. Eliminating costs that your customers won't miss and still let your business function without disruption is what it's all about.

Do you have a business credit card? Print the last three months of statements and audit the expenses, highlighting what's unnecessary.

Final Steps - Cancelling and Saving
After you're happy with your highlighting, whatever is left should only be 'essential' spending. You can inform your team that these services/products won't be re-purchased and the reason why. Once everyone is happy, then you can document the decision and ensure there's no chance of the expenses being charged next month.

Ask Existing Suppliers for a Discount
You may also want to ask for a discount on what you pay by suggesting you'll commit to being a long-term customer of the supplier. Even 3% or 5% can add up and the worst thing you'll hear is a 'no'.

Bonus Tip: Flip Essential Monthly Software Subscriptions to Annual Deals
While Xero doesn't offer a deal, essential services like Zendesk offers 40% discounts on its plans for annual prepayment. Many others offer similar discounts, so if you know you'll always use the service, paying in advance cuts costs down. 

Beyond Bank Statements and Credit Cards, Audit Your PayPal Pre-Approved Subscriptions
Merchants love recurring revenue, but the best way to purge wasted expenses is to check your PayPal subscriptions and cancel what you don't need. Small items here and there add up over one year. 

Estimated savings: It's no exaggeration to assume you can cut back on 5% to 20% of your monthly costs. If you incur $100,000 of non-wage expenses per year, you could realistically save at least $5,000 on non-essentials. 

Upgrade to Xero (or something similar) to Save Time and Money (and Invoice Faster!)

Many businesses still have an 'accounts person' and use paper to send out invoices. Unless you're the exception to logic, doing things manually is horribly inefficient, expensive and holds back growth. Cloud-based accounting plans are nothing new, and Xero (around $65 a month) pays for itself even if you only use the basic invoicing and cash reconciliation features. Sending an invoice can be done in seconds, Xero automatically reminds debtors when payments are late, calculates your GST return and does your payroll. Life is easy with Xero, and the ongoing cost shouldn't be a deal-breaker. 

If you trade over $100,000 annually and have at least five clients, Xero is worth the investment. If you're currently paying someone every week to bookkeep, it's highly likely Xero can help. Best of all, we believe a standard small or medium-sized business could arguably migrate to Xero in one day. What takes the most time is confirming your general ledger (<1 hour) loading client details (<1 hour) and adding 'inventory' (what you sell). Once done, you're set to go.

Recurring invoices?
If you're a business with recurring revenue, such as monthly invoices for services, you can sit back and see them send automatically each week, month or whenever you need them. It's very simple. We believe Xero is a must-have tool for any business wanting to save money and focus on making sales.

Estimated savings: At least $5,000 a year, assuming you pay a bookkeeper $100/week to look after your accounts. Beyond the savings, the uplift in sales by eliminating time-consuming invoicing will be evident after 1-2 months.

Book Less (Internal) Meetings to Boost Productivity and Sales

Few employees look forward to 'general' meetings, and they often distract from important business activities (selling, pitching, producing and delivering). It's easy to stay in the habit of frequent meetings, slideshows and minutes, but the truth is staff feel less anxious when there are fewer meetings. 

To focus on what's important, scroll through your calendar for the last 30 days and screenshot each day's meetings. Ask yourself - would you attend this meeting if you had a promising lead to meet at the same time? If you wouldn't, look at reducing the frequency of the meeting or scrapping it altogether. 

A lot of meetings are held as ego-boosting exercises but ultimately making money is what matters. Unless the meeting is boosting sales or sharing essential skills and knowledge, cancel it.

MoneyHub Christopher Walsh comments:
"I worked at one of the Big 4 accounting firms straight out university and there didn't seem to be a focus on getting new clients as the economy was booming and everyone was happy. When the GFC hit clients shuffled around and there was a lack of work. The senior management team proactively worked hard by putting together an 'A-team' and approaching a bunch of clients. Each signing was celebrated by an office party and a lot of internal buzz, which boosted morale. I learned how sales were made when the economy was bad".

Estimated savings: Lost time is difficult to measure, but the new sales generated from re-focusing team efforts will be evident after a few weeks.

Use Price Comparison Websites (Like MoneyHub) to Help Make Purchasing Decisions

MoneyHub offers the most extensive range of cost-saving resources for businesses and individuals. In 2020, cash became king and a strong balance sheet was essential for business survival. Before making any purchase decision, compare the market. Overpaying is out of fashion; websites like PriceSpy highlight the differences in prices for hardware and other office items. MoneyHub covers insurance, banking, motoring, broadband and fibre as well as phone plans. In every guide, we showcase all the available products and services and compare them based on price and benefits.

We also have useful business tools - calculators for Profit Margin, ROI and Percentage Off are some examples. We compare Business Insurance, Public Liability Insurance, Business Loans and have useful scripts and procedures for Debtor Management.

Estimated savings: Dependant on how much you compare, but $1,000 a year would be reasonable if you made 10-15 well-informed purchases during the year.

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Do you have a business money-saving tip that you’d like us to share? Email our research team to help improve this guide.

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