Sometimes it pays to leave no stone unturned when you are trying to find ways to preserve cash – especially with the stiff challenges facing so many small and mid-sized businesses in the current downturn.
Robert Chalfin, Wharton lecturer, offers the following tips you may not have considered:
* Reduce overnight delivery services whenever possible. Email attachments, U.S. Mail, or Second day deliver can usually suffice and result in huge savings. Depending on your volume you may be able to negotiate lower prices with the delivery services as well.
* Renegotiate banking and credit card fees. “Talk to your credit card provider,” says Chalfin. Negotiate a lower interest rate as well as a discounted fee when customers pay with credit cards. “Negotiate with your bank,” offers Chalfin. “You may be able to consolidate accounts, lower interest rates, and eliminate fees on loans and accounts.
Chalfin is author of Selling Your IT Business: Valuation, Finding the Right Buyer, and Negotiating the Deal (Wiley & Sons, Inc.).
