Keeping small business cost low is a ongoing critical task for entrepreneurs.  This is one of the key task for your Chief Financial Officer (CFO), if you have one.   Keeping cost low will improve the bottom line.  There are a number of things every small business can do to lower cost.  These are the top 10 ways to lower small business cost.

1.  Barter: 

Bartering is a great way to lower cost.  Bartering lets you obtain products and services without the exchange of cash.  If you have something of value, but it's not adding to the bottom line why not exchange it for something that is of more value to your small business.

2.  Cloud Services:  

Use the Cloud.  Use of Cloud service can save you a trumendous amount of money.  Purchase cloud based software and storage.  Software such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, etc.) can be purchased as a cloud service and used on mobile devices such as Phones, Tablets and computers.  It is far cheaper to purchase the cloud software than to purchase it at retail as a stand alone product.  Storage in the cloud is not only cheaper than buying storage devices at retail, it offers greater security and 24/7 access and can be shared with your other employees.

3.  Shop for Discounts: 

Discounts are offered at certain times of the year such as special holidays (New Years, President's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Columbus day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).  Use these timeframe to seek out and make discounted purchases.  Discounts are also offered when items are bought in bulk.  Negotiate with your vendors for discounts.  If you regularly buy from the same vendor ask them for a frequent buyer discount. 

4.  Use Interns: 

Interns is a great source to staff your small business, especially in the summer.  Interns work for a specific period (6 weeks to 6 months) and they are not paid at the same rate as a full-time employee.  Some Interns can work for your small business for free because they get paid by the organizations that sponsor them.

5.  Reduce Full-time Positions and Hire Veterans: 

Re-assess the full-time positions in your business.  If the duties and responsibilities change make changes to your workforce accordingly.  It is ok to convert full-time positions to part-time positions or eliminate them altogether if the workload decreases or business is slow.

Hiring Veterans can be a boost to your bottom line.  You can receive tax credit that range from $1,000 to $15,000 per employee per year for every eligible Veteran that you hire.  Learn more about this tax benefit. 

6.  Outsource:  

Outsourcing can save you a bundle.  If a task can be performed externally at a lower cost, outsource it.  You don't have to perform every task in-house. 

7.  Collaborative Marketing: 

Engage in collaborative marketing.  Team up with another business and pool your marketing resources and market your businesses together.  You will not only reduce your marketing cost, but your will reach more potential customers for your business.

8.  Market Online: 

Online marketing is inexpensive and extremely effective.  Social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. gives your small business to reach tens of millions of people at no cost. 

9.  Manufacture On-Demand: 

The traditional way for manufacturer to make your products at a reasonable cost is to force you to place a minimum order which you have to finance up-front.  This method comes at a high cost to you.  You have to come up with a large sum of money if you want your product produced.  You also have to have a place to put the large order of products until you sell them.  You may not have customers ready to buy those items.  If a fault is discovered after production you can’t correct it.  Save yourself a lot of money by finding a manufacturer who is willing to produce for you on demand or in small quantities without charging a higher price.  In other words, when you have a customer order then you want the item to be produced and sent to the customer.  Use a resource such as Alibaba to find these kinds of manufacturers.

10. Use BYOD: 

Instead of purchasing a new computer, phone or tablet and giving it to a new employee or upgrading equipment to current employees annually why not have them use their own devices.  Learn more about BYOD and you can use it to your advantage.