It’s nothing new. Everyone is looking for ways to save money. And make money. And to save money while making money. Especially small businesses.

Why?

Because we live in a world where you have to pay for stuff to … well, live. The 23 million + small business in the United States have been hit especially hard by a recession that continues to stink the place up.

So, today we have some ways for small businesses to save some cash.

1. Dump the Office

In many ways, offices are obsolete. Why pay rent if you don’t need to? Many workers are more efficient working from home.

When meetings are required, use open office spaces or coworking locations. You save money on rent, employees save money on commuting, and everyone is happy. Of course, this isn’t practical for all types of small businesses, but if you don’t need to rent an office, then with the technology available today, why bother?

Even if you sell products out of a storefront, many business have turned their home garages into inventory storage and moved their storefront onto eBay. The result is often increased sales and lowered overhead that yields greater profits.

2. Use a Project Management System

We’ve all heard it before. Time is money, right?

If that’s true, then the more efficient you become, the more money you make. This is especially true for small business that charge on a project basis. The faster you can get the job done and done right, the sooner you move on to the next project, and more importantly, the sooner you get paid. It’s amazing how the right project management tool can help keep work on track — especially when dealing with complicated, multi-phase efforts.

Project management systems are a key tool for any agency, small business, or startup. A variety of tools exist on the market. I’ve used many of them, and I’ve also worked for companies thatused only traffic managers and human project managers to keep things rolling. Without fail, a good team and a decent web-based project management system creates the greater efficiency.

Zoho Projects and activeCollab are two project management systems that get high marks from many. I’m personally not that huge of a fan of either one.

I’ve actually become a big Basecamp advocate. In my opinion, Basecamp offers the most flexible pricing. It is suitable for any size business, from the solo shop to the biggest of enterprise. It also gives the most bang for the buck.

Most importantly, it’s simultaneously the most flexible and simplest project management system I’ve worked with. Even not-too-web-savvy clients find it a pretty easy interface to work with.

3. Hello? People Still Use Telephones?

Really? Your office has a phone system? You know about Skype, right? Okay, good. What about Google Voice?

Do you still think you need a phone system?

4. Barter

Not only can bartering save you money, but it can also be fun.

Talk to business contacts, neighbors, and clients. You’d be surprised at who’s willing to barter these days. If you can’t find anyone you know, there’s always Craigslist — just be sure to avoid the shady types. Also, don’t forget, bartered goods and services should be reported as income on your taxes.

5. Power Down

Electricity is a huge cost of doing business for some operations. But, if there’s any way to cut back on power use, and there usually are, you should take advantage of them. It’s good for your bottom line, plus it’s good for the environment.

Make sure lights are turned off in unused areas, and if you have employees that continuously forget, use sensors to automate the practice.Turn computers, appliances, and machines off at night, and even if they have a power saving mode, unplug them or use a power strip to kill the power when they’re not being used.

It all adds up.

To Be Cont’d …

That’s a good start, but at Gaucho, we’re never done saving. Tune back in tomorrow when we’ll continue with more ways for small businesses to save money.