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How To Save Your Business Money On Cleaning Supplies And Cleaning Services

How To Save Your Business Money On Cleaning Supplies And Cleaning Services

With today’s rising fuel costs everything just seems to get a little more expensive every day. When you own a business you know that every penny saved can help. Cleaning supplies and cleaning services can eat a big chunk out of your bottom line but there are things you can do to save up to 50% on these types of expenses. Having your facilities cleaned and having to stock your bathrooms with toilet paper and soap are a necessity but there are ways to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year on commercial cleaning and cleaning supplies.

If you use a cleaning company and your facility is under the size of a football field then you are wasting money. By paying a cleaning company to come in every night and do simple tasks like vacuuming and emptying trash you are essentially paying a company to make a profit off of something you could be easily doing yourself in house. By developing a simple plan for your existing employees and having them do some of these tasks can have a huge impact on your cleaning budget. Simple tasks like taking out the trash at the end of the day can be handed out to your current employees. By creating a central location as a main trash refugee can make it easy on employees by having them walk a minimal distance to dump there own trash containers at the end of the day. Many companies are looking to their current staff and advertising cleaning positions for after business hours. In these financially challenging times many employees would jump at the opportunity to work a few extra hours at night to make a little more income. By being smart and taking the time to look at what a cleaning company is actually providing you can save a lot of money.

Another big area you can save money in is your restroom supplies. Every facility has to have restrooms and those restrooms are filled with products that you can save money on. Some examples of products you can save money on are toilet paper, hand towels and soap. Toilet paper can get expensive depending on what kind you use. The price of toilet paper can range from as little as dollars a case to 0 dollars a case. By purchasing commercial toilet paper which is wound with more length to a roll than regular toilet paper can save you hundreds of dollars over just one year. Another great way to save money is on soap. If you purchase soap that can comes in cartridges you may as well have a free money dispenser in your restroom. Cartridge soaps can cost up to 4 times what bulk gallon soaps cost and take the same amount of time to fill as cartridge dispensers. Hand towels can easily be replaced by hand dryers. With hand dryers there is no trash to take out and you can eliminate the cost of replacing paper towel dispensers when they break down.

A great way to save money on cleaning expenses is to question your cleaning bills. If you are currently having your cleaning company provide your cleaning and sanitary maintenance supplies find out if they are selling you the products at their cost or up charging you. Many business owners have no clue about how much a case of toilet paper or a case of trash can liners cost. Some cleaning companies mark up the cleaning products they are selling you by as much as 300% and work it into the bill. There is nothing wrong with asking your cleaning company for a breakdown of there charges and comparing the prices your being charged with the actual costs of what you can purchase the items at.

As an expert in the cleaning field I talk to a lot of cleaning company owners and see where they live and what they drive. Some owners live in million dollar houses and drive very expensive cars all from profits they are making from commercial cleaning. With this being true that means they’re making a lot of money from up charging you for simple services and products that any business owner can buy online or at a local cleaning supply distributor. So if you’re a business owner and want to save some of your hard earned dollars, take a good look at your cleaning situation and start asking questions right away.

Outsourcing NOT Just for Big Business

Outsourcing NOT Just for Big Business

Outsourcing has become a controversial issue and a hot topic among presidential candidates this year. But have you stopped to think how your business can benefit from the efficiency, functionality and cost savings of outsourcing? If you have, you might find that, like many others, you are already outsourcing-and enjoying its benefits.
What is Outsourcing?
Outsourcing simply means “contracting out” various functions of your business. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be contracting out work to foreign countries because there are many American companies that provide outsourcing services i.e.. commercial printing services and cleaning services, among others.) The vendors who supply outsourced services may be self-employed contractors, consulting firms, temporary employee services or professional service firms. One common example of outsourcing is payroll processing. Other commonly outsourced functions that can be provided by professional services firms include:
Succession planning
Accounting and tax preparation
Information technology (IT)
Consulting (i.e. due diligence, business planning)
Distribution services
Pension management
Manufacturing
Assembly
Staffing
Grounds Maintenance
Estate and income tax planning
Why Outsourcing Can Work for Your Business
Fortune 500 corporations are under the microscope for outsourcing thousands of jobs overseas to low wage workers, potentially leaving American workers out of work. But according to Forrester Research Inc., of the 2.7 million jobs lost over the past three years, only 300,000 have been from outsourcing. With that in mind, outsourcing means something different for family and privately owned businesses. With fierce competition affecting the margins of many businesses, companies are finding that they cannot afford layers of administrative overhead dedicated to operating their core business. They are realizing that outsourcing provides alternatives to doing everything for themselves. For example, if your business is distribution, there may not be a need to employ a large administrative overhead dedicated to support functions like those listed above. Companies that provide outsourcing services are able to invest more time and resources into the specific functions that generate revenue. Because of this, they can operate more efficiently and economically, which can help you compete more effectively than companies that do it themselves.
Information technology is a good example of this. The cost in personnel, benefits and training to keep pace in the rapidly changing world of information technology is prohibitive for most privately owned businesses. By outsourcing this function, management is free to focus its energies on the core aspects of the business-those that provide revenue-generating products and services-and leave the other areas to vendors who specialize in performing those functions.
Benefits of Outsourcing
Proponents of outsourcing cite a variety of reasons for “letting others do it.” Here are some of the most important:
Cost savings – By outsourcing functions that were previously performed in house, companies are often able to reduce their employee levels and related costs, such as recruitment, supervision, salary and benefits. By outsourcing a capital intensive function, you can also reduce the costs of equipment obsolescence and depreciation. A portion of your cost savings will go to the outsourcer, but outsourcing vendors have a tighter control of fringe benefits and run leaner overhead structures. They also know how to deal with vendors serving the function they are providing and therefore, are able to pass on to your company the benefits derived from bulk purchasing and effective leasing.
Quality of service – Because your company is the outsourcer’s customer, you will likely experience a “can-do attitude,” which may not always be exhibited by an in-house staff.
More capital funds – Outsourcing reduces the need to invest capital in non-core business functions, thereby freeing capital to invest in profit-making aspects of the business.
State-of-the-art technology – Outsourcers have to spend time and money on the most current equipment and on employee training to remain competitive. By outsourcing certain areas, you are assured of receiving the most efficient services and the latest technological advances within that particular function.
Price stability – By signing a contract to outsource, you will likely be able to obtain stable pricing, eliminating the future need to shop around. Stable pricing allows the company to budget operating expenses and capital purchases more accurately, while potentially preventing the likelihood of surprise expenses.
New business partners – Outsourcers clearly wish to be viewed as your business partner. And as a business partner, they share in the desire to keep your company operating at its maximum potential. Through this business partner arrangement, outsourcers are eager to introduce you to other outsourcers to assist in that goal.
More time to focus on core business activities – You cannot overlook this intangible benefit of outsourcing. If a company is to be successful and profitable, management is needed to spend time planning and directing the company’s business strategies and not wasting time worrying about managing certain administrative or ancillary functions.
Potential Drawbacks
As with every new system and procedure, you have to take the good with the bad. Critics argue that outsourcing creates too much loss of control, less flexibility, questionable savings and the risk of over dependence on too few vendors. Owners of family and privately owned businesses should understand that initiating an outsourcing arrangement takes considerable management time. Finding and selecting the right outsourcing company can take many months. And outsourcing companies need to be given overall directives and guidelines for what the company wants done, and therefore, some level of supervision by management will ultimately be needed. Also, if an outsourcer is replacing a function that has been historically done within the company, layoffs could very possibly affect employee morale and may cause talented staff in other core areas to leave for fear of job security. In addition, be cautious not to completely eliminate the internal ability to provide the basic product or service you offer. For example, if you are a manufacturer and you have outsourced the assembly of your product, be sure you can still provide a sample of a specialty order in-house if asked to by a customer. A delay of a product sample could cost you the customer’s business.
One of the biggest complaints by companies that have outsourced is that there has been a mismatch between expectations and reality. When an outsourcer is marketing its services there is usually much enthusiasm and talent dedicated to solving the problems that were defined at the outset. However, once the contract is signed, the outsourcer brings in its implementation team, which often lacks the same level of enthusiasm that the sales and marketing team had. Due diligence is necessary when beginning any new business relationships. It is best to get recommendations from current customers of the outsourcer or other reliable sources in your industry.
Careful Selection Is Key
By being aware of these drawbacks at the start of the outsourcing process, you can mitigate many of these and build outsourcing relationships that benefit your business. The key to successful outsourcing is careful selection of both the functions you outsource and the vendors you choose to supply them.

Paul Rich, Principal and Business Consultant
Siegel Rich Division of Rothstein Kass – Certified Public Accountants

Start Your Own Computer Support Business

Start Your Own Computer Support Business

Anyone with some a little training and experience can find themselves among the most valuable assets in the world of computers and small business as a computer support person. Many computer users will find themselves in predicaments that have them on the verge of panic and will think the sky is falling on them. They will have a small computer glitch or problem that can be pretty easily remedied and find themselves wanting to go out and buy another computer. That may not be necessary and you can be instrumental in not only saving their day but creating a loyal customer for years to come. Even the smallest computer repair can seem like a big deal to those without the proper knowledge that you have.

For those who rely on computers to run their own at home business, their computer is their lifeline. Most do not know much about how a computer works. Their greatest fear is having the computer freeze up and lose everything that they need. Most do not do what they need to make sure that everything is backed up on removable hard drives or online storage system. There are so many things that you can do to make their lives easier they will look to you for help first when they do have major computer problems.

You will most likely want to get started locally so that you can either be called out to take care of on site repairs or so that they can bring their computer in to you to take care of. After you have found a good workspace that is clean and organized you will need to get a business license which will bring about credibility and also seek to get insurance for your business to help cover you in case unforeseen things happen that could cost you your business.

Make sure that you have the latest software to help you diagnose problems and make sure they are up to date. Also make sure that you have all the most up to date virus knowledge and scanners available to help keep your computers from being infected but also those you are working on.

Build a website. There is no doubt that having a web presence can help make you known, even in your area. For getting a good start to your computer business look for ways to have your website optimized for local searches on all the major search engines. As someone working with computers this is something that should be an essential par of your business plan.

The most of what it takes to be successful starting and running a computer support business you may already have. What may be the hardest part of it is marketing but if you take care of your customers they will spread the word and bring more business opportunities. People love to have the dilemmas solved and will gladly tell others about their hero that saved their say. It may not seem like that big of a fix or problem to you but in as you start your computer support business you will find it is a big deal for others and your bank account.

Free Publicity For Your Landscaping Business

Free Promotion For Your Landscaping Company

No matter of whether you are just venturing out into the organization world or currently have an effective business, budgeting your expenditures will certainly aid to enhance revenues and the overall health and wellness of the service. The biggest expenses that a landscaping service has are marketing and the price of devices. The prices associated with a print ad can be substantial, which is why a growing number of entrepreneur are turning toward an alternative method of getting the word out concerning their landscaping organization. With a company that provides neighborhood services, such as landscaping, it is more vital to get to a neighborhood audience rather than a nationwide one.

One of the most usual means to generate totally free publicity for a landscaping organization is via a news release, which is dispersed to regional papers, magazines and also trade publications. Whether the landscaping business has a real storefront existing, is home or web-based, this option might have a positive success rate. In order for a news release to be deserving of magazine, it has to include some type of information. A fantastic example would certainly be a grand opening, the launch of a new website, a cost-free landscaping job competition or similar newsworthy occasion. A picture of the company proprietor would certainly make a nice accompaniment to any news release as well as might even grab the editor’s attention. Press launches can be sent using mail, e-mail or fax as well as must be directed to the editor’s attention.

Numerous services, consisting of those that provide landscaping solutions, usually choose to have a site. Although the internet does offer nationwide exposure, numerous neighborhood customers might browse the internet for landscaping info. A web site ought to be professionally designed, on a regular basis updated and also attribute lots of landscaping instance photos to showcase your capability. With a site, the totally free promotional chances are unlimited. From press release submission web sites to post advertising and also search engines, there are lots of means to get the word out concerning your new internet existence.

Simply as there are a number of methods to create paid marketing, there are a lot more means to get complimentary attention for your landscaping company. Many neighborhood companies will certainly find paid advertising functions most effectively in the telephone directory’s yellow pages, yet might also discover limited success with paper and/or radio advertising. The main issue with the last is that newspapers are frequently discarded swiftly as well as many people do not have a pen handy when listening to the radio in order to list a get in touch with number. When you minimize the advertising expenses and boost earnings, your firm’s checking account will start to twinkle just as much as the dew on a wonderfully landscaped yard.

Cleansing And Also Upkeep Franchise Business Opportunities

Cleaning Up As Well As Maintenance Franchise Opportunities

If you want taking your experience in the cleansing and upkeep areas, and also investing money in a franchise business chance, then you’ll want to review this post. Particularly in this article we will discuss what it requires to make a sound choice in buying franchise business chances in the area of cleansing as well as upkeep. After reading this post, you need to have an extremely excellent concept of whether or not this is an industry you need to hang out looking into.

Cleaning and maintenance franchise possibilities are ideal for entrepreneurs who had actually like to work from house. There are a lot a home-based business chances available in the cleaning industry. The majority of people who get involved in the cleaning organization start their very own service from house. Nevertheless, if you have the capital to invest, it’s a whole lot easier to purchase a franchise business name the people know to get company.

For example, that would you feel more comfortable allowing your house, some individual with his own carpeting cleansing organization, or some on who runs a Servicemaster carpet cleansing organization? This is the power of a franchise name.

The fantastic feature of cleaning and upkeep franchise opportunities, is that there will certainly constantly be a demand for them. In fact, as a result of increased understanding of the contaminants that are collecting in residences, more people everyday are turning to expert cleansers to make certain their home atmosphere is risk-free. With this increase popular, comes a rise in the chance of discovering the franchise business possibility that will certainly bring you earnings.

Cleaning up is a great deal like opening up a hair cuttery or a grass service firm, these are services that individuals will certainly constantly want and needs. When selecting a franchise opportunity, franchisees should concentrate on their clients requirements as well as not their desires. When you realize just how to market to individuals’s requirements, whatever else just seems to find into location. As an example, one of the best investments my dad made remained in a cars and truck rental franchise near the Atlanta airport terminal. He recognized people will constantly REQUIRE to rent vehicles pertaining to the flight terminal, so he recognized it was an audio investment. Cleansing and Upkeep solutions will certainly constantly be needed regardless of the state of the economic climate.

Finally, if you want spending in cleaning as well as maintenance franchise possibilities, ensure you do your homework on the business prior to you authorize any franchise arrangement. Along with making certain they have a rewarding company design, you require good consumer support. Lots of opportunities use ongoing training as well as live support, to aid you when you initially begin your organization. They want you to succeed as much as you want to succeed, because they intend to continue their brand.

Finally, the cleansing as well as maintenance sector is expanding, and also is perfect for people who have a rate of interest for things associated with this industry. By recognizing the significance of selecting the best franchise business name, as well as having solid client support along with a strong company design, you will certainly make a wise decision if you spend in a cleansing as well as upkeep franchise chance.

Advertising your business or your services can be tricky, but there are a million different things you can do

Marketing your organization or your services can be challenging, yet there are a million various points you can do

You have actually possibly thought about other hand out items that could have your business name as well as visit them, but most forget marketing mouse pads. This is because we have actually been putting on apparel and also hats for centuries, but mouse pads are fairly brand-new to the marketplace. This does not imply they are not typical however, and are constantly needed with a computer system. If you think regarding the variety of people who have a computer system, you can see why marketing mouse pads can be a wonderful suggestion.

Advertising computer mouse pads to not need to cost that much, yet you do have to buy them. The variety of times they are seen every day by a potential client might give you all the motivation you need. If you own a computer system shop or computer repair solution, it is virtually necessary that you have promotional computer mouse pads. Think concerning the frustrated individual sitting at an old or damaged computer, and just how valuable it would be to your company if your name was staring up at them when they require to find what you need to use.

When you make your advertising mouse pads, maintain it basic. Those that get them should intend to utilize them, and they won’t if they are ostentatious or seem to be excessive of a promotion. You can have your name, logo design, and contact info on them, however try to make them as fashionable as you can. That will imply even more people will in fact use them instead than throw them in the closet. When it comes to printing, you might intend to search around online to locate the very best bargain you can. The more you order simultaneously the a lot more you are going to save, so keep that in mind when you purchase. Stock up so you do not run out.

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