1. Do it online. Do all of your sales calls need to be in person? Internet-based technologies like Web conferencing and tools like Microsoft Office Live Meeting let you make online presentations to customers.



2. Shun fixed costs. Convert as many expenses to variable costs as possible.



3. Sublet office space. You’ll always need to pay rent, regardless of the economy. But try to avoid any additional bills and contracts that will come with having your own office. Subletting is a great way to accomplish this.



4. Keep it in the family. Got kids? Hire them! You’ll get cheap help, your kid will learn responsibility and you may get some tax breaks, too.



5. Hire college students or interns for credit. An internship program is a win-win situation for your business. You get bright, young and ambitious employees to do your dirty work for little or no pay.



6. Purchase good computer equipment. Increase productivity. The “dink” factor will cost much more than buying better equipment in the first place.



7. Buy used furniture. Furniture is furniture.



8. Use online coupons. Scour the Internet for coupons and promotion codes hardware, software and electronic equipment.



9. Word of mouth advertising works. Use your associates to get referrals.



10. Get to know your neighbor businesses. They might be up for splitting local advertising and promotion costs, such as sidewalk sales and mailing lists.



11. Get your clients to advertise for you. Ask them to write a testimonial on your Web site or tell their colleagues about your products or services.



12. Be a guest speaker. Speak at a community meeting or teach a business course to reach new potential customers.



13. Join trade associations. You’ll get industry-specific information, advice, sales opportunities and other member benefits.



14. Piggyback your advertising. Include advertising material in mailings such as invoices.



15. Order your checks from a printing company. Printing companies often charge less than banks.



16. Consider raising your deductibles. Assess your risk against cash flow benefits by reviewing your insurance deductibles.



17. Consider a PEO (Professional Employer Organization). PEOs take over the administrative and legal responsibilities of managing your employees, effectively becoming "employers of record." This translates into lower HR costs, better benefits packages and reduced legal liability for your company.



18. Consider outsourcing your HR, benefits and payroll to an external provider. Handing over administrative responsibilities to another company will save you time and money.

Outsourcing refers to the practice of getting other companies to take care of those things you don’t absolutely have to do yourself. Let’s face it – you need every minute of every day for selling and servicing your customers. You can’t afford to take on tasks that can be done better by others.

The central idea to outsourcing is that certain tasks can be done more efficiently, and therefore less expensively, by companies that specialize in those tasks. For example, it probably doesn’t make sense to have a dedicated Human Resource (HR) person on your staff if you have fewer than 20 employees. All the same, you had better get your HR responsibilities right, or you can be in big trouble. That’s where a firm that specializes in helping small business with HR comes in. Likewise, payroll services like ADP or Intuit Payroll Services eliminate the need for a dedicated Payroll person on your staff.

What kinds of tasks can you outsource? Here are just a few, for starters:

• Human Resources
• Payroll
• Accounting
• Information Technology (Networks, email, etc.)

You probably get the idea. If you have a job that you suspect could be outsourced, simply search for the task, combined with the word “outsource”, in your favorite search engine.

Search engine terms:

• “human resources”
• “payroll”
• “outsource accounting”
• “outsource IT”