The economy is still struggling to emerge from a recession, and while some say that the worst is behind us, businesses are still looking for ways to cut costs as slim profit margins persist. Some business owners may recognize that green appliances and operations are beneficial to budgeting and payroll, but may feel these solutions are outside their price range without emptying their business banking accounts.
There are smaller changes that can easily be made to accommodate green changes and spur cost savings initiatives, however. Instead of committing to expensive eco-friendly machines, organizations need only find smarter ways to work with existing assets.
Reducing holdings
Maintenance costs can be a killer, especially with small businesses that may want to down-scale office size to save on facilities expenses. In order to do this, though, owners must find alternative ways of doing business.
Cutting down on or eliminating the number of paper files in-house can help meet that end. A financial advisor would also point out that this strategy boosts business continuity by creating a digital backup track for all essential information, so if anything should ever happen to the storefront, everything would be safely saved online. An electronic data facility also means not having to pay for storage or physical file maintenance.
To further reduce on-site liability and storage costs, hosting servers in the cloud is a good strategy, Business 2 Community wrote. This allows high-priced heating and cooling bills for a single room to be knocked off the bill, saving an organization a good bit of money.
A national turnoff
Other things that save money for companies are the assets it already owns, and not just its computers. Mining Journal wrote that unplugging devices when not actively in use can save thousands of dollars a year, considering that these tools keep drawing power even when sleeping. Some of the biggest offenders, according to research by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, included laptop computers, game consoles, DVD and VCR players, as well as satellite equipment and television sets.
One of the best green and cost-saving plans here, Mining Journal wrote, is to simply unplug devices when they aren't in use, instead of purchasing energy-efficient models. Since there's no such thing as a device that uses no electricity, it's better to unplug than simply spend less per month.