First of all, look at who you are buying from. Shopping around can dramatically diminish the price of the exact same products by several hundreds of pounds, with little effort required on your part. Considering it will take only an hour at the most, and that you can negotiate bulk discounts, hunting for cheaper suppliers can be the most valuable 60 minutes you will ever expend. Also, the higher up the supply chain you buy from, the better you’ll find the experience. Getting your paper from a supermarket is ridiculously expensive compared to going to whoever sells them that paper, or even going directly to the production company.
Once you have diminished the costs on the supplier’s end, it’s time to look at how you use your business supplies. Wastage is another easy way to hemorrhage money, so if you’re noticing that sticky notes are being used for what an email would do, or that people are printing excessive amounts of documents that could have been done with a lot less, it may be time to change company policy. Five people using five pieces of paper that they do not need every day throwing away a pen that still works and laminating drafts will add up very rapidly, and is very easy to prevent.
In addition, although it’s never fun to discuss, you may have noticed some supplies growing legs and walking out of your office of their own accord. It’s probably best not to go and accuse everyone of stealing, but if you’ve been noticing that mysteriously disappearing supplies is a trend, it might be an idea to have a quick word with your workforce about stealing being stealing no matter what is being stolen.
So, now you’ve looked at the suppliers and your own office, you can now compare brands and see whether it’s really worth the premium you’re paying. Some brands have built a name for quality, but are actually very comparable to off-brands, which are far cheaper. It’s always good to buy the best products available, no questions there, and there is a certain amount of pride that can be taken in having a highly recognizable brand in your offices. On the other hand, is that luxury worth the notably higher costs with very little yield?
When decreasing the costs of supplies in the office, looking at all of the potential ways you can save money is better than focusing on only one. Taking all of the ideas I’ve given you in to account when writing up your budget will be far more productive than spending a lot of time on only one. Being able to make easy savings across the board is a great power to have, no matter how large or small you are.
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