Expert Tips to Save on Your Business’s Office Supply Purchases

By: Boris_Dzhingarov

Without a doubt, one of the most common overhead expenses that nearly all businesses share is that of office supply purchases. Chances are your business needs furniture, pens, paper, envelopes, checks, etc. in order to effectively operate. The problem with this is that these costs can quickly add up, and can have a stronger impact on your business’s bottom line than you might imagine.

Whether you’re a small business or a mid-sized regional vendor, you’re probably looking for ways to save on your monthly office supply costs. Overspending is a huge problem among small businesses (and mid-sized businesses alike). Luckily, there are many ways to counteract overspending.

In the following sections, we’ll attempt to guide your business out of the depths of overspending and into the light of optimized office supply purchase habits. Establishing a cost-effective spending strategy is very important to ensuring the continued success (and growth) of your business, which is why we’ve made this blog. Use the tips posted below to cut office supply costs, increase your bottom line, and be a more optimized business in general.

The Future is Here: Internet-Based Services

Up until a few decades ago, it was commonplace for a business to conduct 100% of its operations offline. Thanks to the explosive growth of the internet, this model has been completely flipped on its head, with many businesses doing the exact opposite (i.e. running their business mostly via web apps).

How does this apply to cutting office supply purchases? For starters, you can find much better deals on bulk inventory supplies online. Business checks are a good example of this. In the past, you’d need to order directly from your bank, wait for them to print the checks, and then wait for them to finally ship them out.

Nowadays, you can get fast business check delivery online via any number of high-quality service providers. By using an online service, you can easily cut costs, minimize wait times, and increase your business’s overall productivity.

Analyze Your Costs on a Regular Basis

You can’t expect to be able to save money (regularly, that is) without performing routine audits of your purchasing process, as well as your inventory levels. Inventory and purchasing are two areas that are inherently tied to one another. You can’t streamline your purchasing process without knowing everything about your inventory (and vice versa).

This applies to office supply costs because one of the most common mistakes businesses make in regards to their monthly spending is over purchasing of inventory. This is mainly due to improper inventory control, and sloppy purchasing processes.

The best way to remedy this is by performing regular audits of both your product inventory and supplies, as well as understanding where your organization’s inherent weaknesses lie (in regards to inventory management and purchasing).

Going From Paper to Digital: Less Waste and More Savings

Moving from paper to digital doesn’t just apply to bank checks and other types of stationery. While paper isn’t too expensive, if you’re the type of business that conducts a lot of operations the old-fashioned way, you’d be surprised at how much money you can save on an annual basis by switching to digital-based document sharing protocols.

Of course, it’s impossible to go 100% digital (at least in this current decade), but your goal should be to go digital whenever possible. Not only is it worth it from a savings standpoint, but you’ll also experience a more dynamic workflow, and be able to have more productive work sessions. Cloud-based apps are all the rage nowadays, and it doesn’t matter if you like them or not, your competitors are most likely already on them.

Cutting Costs Requires Vigilance

If you want to have fewer costs, especially in terms of office supplies, you’re going to need to perform a thorough analysis of your business spending habits, identify weak points, and make adjustments as necessary. After an analysis has been done, and you’ve determined where you need to improve, the next step is determining why you want to improve.

Do you want to only cut costs? What about your purchasing process? Or, what about centralizing your purchasing responsibilities? These are the kinds of questions any operator should be asking themself when trying to streamline their office supply spending strategy. Go digital, stop using so much paper, and move to a more cloud-based workflow. Doing these strategies will improve your bottom line (even if just a little - which will add up in the end).

By Boris Dzhingarov

© 2020 Copyright Boris Dzhingarov - All Rights Reserved

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