Owning and managing a businessnews requires you to wear many hats. From sales, marketing, operations, financial oversight to customer service. All of these areas are important to your company. Overhead expenses need to be met each month regardless of how your business may be doing.

Many businesses are struggling to stay afloat in challengingfinancial times like the present. Maximising your cash flow and utilising all of the tools available to reduce your operational expenses can help you save money. Technology can offer ways in which to help your decrease your monthly business costs.

Here are a handful of suggestions on how to use technology:

Hiring Freelance Workers

When you need assistance with projects, either on an on-going basis or just on occasion, you don’t need to hire an additional employee. Hiring a qualified freelance worker can provide you with the extra help you need in order to get a project completed.

Remote workers have gained momentum over the past few years, and more people than ever are working from their homes. All that is needed to work remotely is a laptop or tablet and connection to a high-speed network.

There are a different websites that are created to connect freelancers and companies. One website is Upwork.com. Through Upwork, freelancers can create a profile showcasing their background and skills, and companies can post the projects they would like to hire a freelancer to help them get the project completed. The process is streamlined to make it easy for both parties.

Identify and Review Insurance Coverage

Protecting your overall business is also critical. In addition to your finances, your company needs to be properly insured to protect all that you have built. Comprehensive business insurance should be established to focus on each aspect of your company, to move it forward and make it successful.

Not only do you need to ensure that you have the correct type of protection, you will also want to make sure you are getting the balance between cover and cost. Obtaining several quotes from different insurance companies will allow you to see not only the different coverage levels but also the cost of each policy. BizCover can make this process easier and faster, click here for business protection.

You will want to review your coverage every 6 or 12 months. Setting up a reminder in your calendar to automatically prompt you to evaluate your coverage.

Using Software and Hardware Automation

Automation is, in simple terms, a procedure or process that requires little or no human assistance. Repetitive functions or operations within your company can be automated using software or hardware (depending upon the action needed). Not only will this help cut your costs but can also allow you to schedule how and when these functions need to be performed. Some projects can be performed via software, others will need to be set up with hardware.

For example, scheduling a monthly report using Excel that automatically runs at the end of each month and captures all of your sales by salesperson, is a great way to create an automated report. By setting this function up to run on a monthly basis is one less responsibility for an employee to have to complete.

Enlist the Help of the Cloud

Using Cloud services, or a remote storage server, is a quick and easy way to store your large computer files which are important to your business. Instead of buying additional equipment to store your data files, paying for cloud server storage is more secure and convenient than having to buy and maintain on site servers at your business.

Outsourcing Job Functions

As your company changes and grows, you may find yourself in need of different types of professional assistance, such as human resources, IT, accounting, technical support but don’t yet need a full-time staff member in this function. Outsourcing these roles can provide you with the expertise you need but at a lower cost than hiring a full-time staff member in the particular function.

Open Source Resources

Identifying and purchasing software for your company can be costly, especially if you need multiple copies of the software for your staff. Many companies cannot afford to purchase expensive and intricate programs.

Using unauthorised software copies isn’t an option, as you want to operate your business in an honest manner. Research and locate open source programs that are available for use. There are many different resources available online, for various types of projects and are fairly easy to find when searching through the web.

These tips for using technology to help you with your company can help you reduce business expenses, and in many cases, increase overall efficiency. By spending just a little bit of time, you can research and identify multiple resources that can not only support your business, save you money and also make your life easier.