Davinci Virtual

Right now is a time of tightening the financial belt…shoring up our reserves to get ourselves through this tough market. But, there are places where cutting spending can actually cut resources and reduce income. Here are some places where skimping just doesn’t make sense:

• Employee pay and benefits…yes, this is likely your greatest expense, and there may come a time where it is necessary to cut pay…but don’t go here first. You need talented, committed people who will bolster efforts and push you through this economy and into more successful times.
• Time-saving or resource-saving devices…this includes blackberries, satellite Internet connectivity cards, high functioning laptops. All of these technologies give you more flexibility, create less dependence on a specific office space…creating virtual employees.
• Marketing…and this is with a caveat. Don’t just throw money into the marketing budget. Find a quality company that can run a targeted campaign. Investigate social media and it’s marketing abilities. Use your dollars to reach niche markets, not broadcast to the entire world.

How about the opposite? Where should we avoid spending extra dollars?

• Offices..don’t waste money creating a physical location if you don’t need to…today’s customers are completely comfortable with virtual offices…and you save a ton on overhead.
• Spendy marketing materials…unless this is an industry standard for you, there are many amazing printers that can generate great quality work from your home office. If you need bulk printing, check out Kinko’s for simple print jobs.
•  Staff…while this may seem to contradict the above list, the fact is, employees are expensive, so unless you need them, don’t add them. Outsource and subcontract specific tasks and save on employment taxes by doing so.

The one thing that you can invest that costs resources, but not money, is your time. Times such as these require extra networking and face time. Get out there and make connections. Of anything on the list, it is likely to have the greatest return.