virtual-business 
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We all know how draining it feels to invest all of our energy and hours of our lives into our businesses, only to watch the potential profit margin be continually depleted by ever increasing overheads.
Below are 3 suggestions on how to avoid significant outlay on items that most traditional businesses would see as standard expenditure, but which may no longer actually be necessary.
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Never print anything
I can already hear the scoffers at that one! Paper records are a must!… Aren’t they? With even our largest and most traditional governing bodies going fully digital, it really isn’t necessary to be printing out screeds of documentation any longer. Having your data stored in at least two secure backups or cloud storage systems should suffice.
Doing a lot of training with worksheets galore? Invest in a PDF Converter – e.g. PDF Converter (OCR). Pay once and you can do wondrous things with even the hardiest PDF formats!
Even if you are an organisation that sends out letters to your clients, there are organisations now that specifically handle this on your behalf – e.g.Post works – alleviating substantial printing and postage expense. Additionally, you will not be paying out for repairs and updates to your printers, or the call-out costs when the network goes down.
You will, however, be playing a part in reducing carbon emissions and saving forests!
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Find new ways to celebrate your team.
Traditionally, it was normal to spend a fortune on staff meals or nights out to celebrate achievements, build rapport, or just have some time out. It may be worth considering new ways to invest in team development.
According to Michelle from Virtual Hand “Order in! The variety available to order in is quite remarkable these days and no longer limited to greasy pizza.” Regardless of whether you splurge on sushi or let everyone choose their favourite kebab filling, gathering around the boardroom table with hand-selected playlists and a relaxed atmosphere will always cost less than restaurant wine lists and expensive cocktails.
Choose experience days! For the cost of a fancy meal in a restaurant, the team building dynamic of a shared experience will top a good Chardonnay…in my opinion…
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Outsource
This may still be a terrifying concept to many, but for nearly 2 decades many businesses have relied on ‘virtual assistants’ to pick up the slack on their day-to-day admin, media content, and arrangements – long before the title was stolen by AI!
What used to be only possible for the jet-setting millionaires is now a viable option for anyone who needs the extra support with their business (or home life), without the enormous added expense and risk of taking on additional staff or trying to manage every detail alone. In fact, I would go as far as to say that outsourcing and productive collaborations are the way of the future.
Skill sets that used to be restricted to back-room employees are now being established as thriving sole traders or whole organisations. It is even possible to contract a virtual assistant to simply manage your gift selection and purchases for your business or family.
Avoiding the costs of significant human resources and further employment costs will undoubtedly reduce expenditure within your business and provide you with the freedom to work with like-minded, skilled people for as long as there is a need.
Hourly or package rates give you the flexibility to only use the budget feasible for a particular project or season, whilst still maintaining strong connections and future endeavour possibilities with businesses you trust and work well with.
While not all of the above may be suited to your current business format or needs, consider the possibilities, consult those who have already taken the steps, and enjoy the journey of introducing cost-effective, new systems and concepts into your business!
