April 7, 2020 The Office Manager’s Guide to a Tighter Budget

If you are an office manager looking to tighten the budget start here.

The last thing any office manager wants to hear is that it’s time to look for new ways to save money, but the fact is it comes with the territory. Office managers, throughout the history of the title, have been responsible for more than just making sure the company never runs out of toner. Their job is to promote efficiency, and not just efficiency in productivity. A good office manager can figure out how to work within a budget so that money can be freed up for better use in growing the business. If you’re an office manager on the hunt for ways to tighten the budget, start here:

Don’t Pay Full Retail for Office Tech

With all the other hassles going on in a busy office, it might seem like a no-brainer to spend a short amount of time researching prices at the major retailers before plunking down serious cash for computers, printers, photocopiers, fax machines, telephones, and other office tech. Don’t forget that retail stores are not the only players in the game. With some slightly more in-depth research, you might be able to find a better deal through a company such as X-Digital; among other tech supplies for your office they offer used printers for sale. Additionally, there may be room for negotiation if you are buying computers and other technical tools in a larger quantity. Look at it this way: Even if you can only negotiate a five percent discount, five percent of $5,000 is $250. Could you find a good use for an extra $250 in growing your business? How about advertising? Barring that, there’s always the snack drawer that could be handsomely stocked for a few hundred dollars.

Take Advantage of Remote Days

More employees than ever are interested in the idea of working remotely. Believe it or not, you can benefit from this without losing productivity or never seeing your staff. As the office manager, your company’s work ethic often falls under your oversight; so does its morale. Imagine the energy savings if part of your staff worked from home one or two days a week! Additionally, imagine the improvement in morale – less days commuting and sitting in an office all day can have a tremendous impact on improving employee engagement and retention over time. If you start small, you can allow for a low enough number of hours to get a feel for managing a workforce that isn’t always in the office. At the same time, it will be enough hours to allow you to notice a decrease in your utility bill. All of those computers running and all of those lights consume energy, and that energy starts to add up.

Use Organic to Offset Paid

You can discover savings in your advertising budget over time if you focus on building an organic online presence while you’re still paying for advertising. By utilizing the strengths of your staff, you have the potential to publish a blog that is useful enough to attract visitors who could become customers. If you rotate blogging responsibilities, you won’t overwhelm anyone in particular with the additional workload. Don’t overlook social media, either. The opportunity to become noticed online can be a very fruitful use of a few minutes each day or a few hours each week. Over time, you might be able to lessen your focus on paid advertising as a result.

Use Analytics and A/B Testing

Another way to tighten your advertising budget is to measure the return on investment from the advertising dollars you DO spend. By using analytics software, you have the capability to measure the results of your advertising campaigns. Use A/B testing to see which landing pages on your website result in more customers so that future campaigns are as effective as they can possibly be.

As you can see, there are plenty of exciting – and creative – avenues for the office manager in search of cutting back on spending. Not everything about a tight budget needs to be a negative experience.

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