The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership involves members taking their issues to the table and discussing them with their peers.
At a recent meeting CEO members discussed the issue of reducing costs. In any organisation, but especially SME’s where there is no central purchasing function, there comes a time when a thorough audit of costs needs to be done and then the task of applying common sense to reducing costs needs to be actioned.
A number of areas were highlighted where there is often overspend:
- Mobile phone contracts often get out of synch so the overall company contract never has a definite cut off for re-negotiation. This can mean a sizeable cost reduction on charges (40% for one of the members).
- Sanitary disposal does not need a daily collection yet companies often pay for it (60% reduction achievable through re-negotiation).
- IT support is another area where costs can multiply without control.
At any time, but even more so during an economic downturn, all companies need to reduce costs as well as be very active in client retention and sales. These few pointers may just start you in the right direction for initiating cost reductions in your own business.
For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided by our members – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of shared experience and experiential learning alongside fellow leaders, CEOs, MDs and entrepreneurs. To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.