We’ve all changed our behaviour in this recession and its aftermath. I, for one, can’t remember the last time I went out to a restaurant without a two-for-one voucher. Doing otherwise now just feels wasteful. We’ve all made sure our credit cards are offering cashback or balance transfers, and are busy working out the cost-per-use before splashing out on any kind of luxury. We think more before spending.
And it’s true in business too: as the economic outlook crumbled, staff haven’t been replaced, printers were switched to black-and-white only, the fridge supply of milk was limited because Audrey in accounts kept using it all up on her cereal…
Now there are fledging signs that things are getting better. Economic figures going in the right direction, consumer confidence rising; SME bosses aren’t feeling quite so scared as they were. But we shouldn’t view this as a chance to forget the changes we’ve made. Keeping unnecessary costs pared down as growth opportunities emerge will help your bottom line to boom. Here are six ways every business – big or small, majorly involved in logistics or simply moving the odd parcel now and then – can save on transport. (And they might mean you can stop rationing the milk supply for Audrey.)
1. Petrol costs
Small businesses with only moderate driving expenses should cut the cost of filling the tank by visiting the petrolprices.com website. Type in your location and it will list the cheapest pumps to where you are. On average, users save £2 per fill-up; to firms using even just a tank a week, the savings will easily add up to more than £100 a year.
Firms with several drivers or major mileage might like to look into fuel cards, which help to eliminate the administration of driver receipts or fixed mileage rates; drivers pay with a fuel card – which often offer discounted rates. There are tax implications though so look into the costs before signing up.
2. Shipments around the country
Here’s a thought lots of us have had in the middle of a long motorway drive: “half of those lorries trundling around the country are empty, because they’re heading back to depot after making a delivery. There’s got to be a business idea in that.” To those that have, I’ve got good news and bad. The bad? Someone has thought of it. The good? It could help save your business shed loads. Shiply.com is an online marketplace for transporting goods around the country. Its founder discovered that a quarter of lorries run completely empty of cargo in Britain, while half are part full.
The picture isn’t so bad for vans, but 15% still run empty on UK roads. So Shiply matches up lorries and vans with businesses (or individuals) who need something picked up or delivered. You post the items you need to move, including preferred dates and delivery details, for free on the site, and logistics firms or lorries that are already making that journey and have room on board bid for the journey. If several firms respond, a bidding war can kick off – with each bidding less to move your stuff. An easy alternative to hiring a pricey logistics firm, or taking time out of your business schedule to move items around the UK.
3. Borrow rather than buy
Work out the cost-per-use of your company cars, and whether you actually need them. It might be cheaper to join a car club, such as Zipcar, which operates around the UK including London, Bristol, Cambridge and Maidstone. A year’s business membership is £99, then borrowing a car costs almost £4 an hour or around £39 for the day, including the congestion charge, insurance and petrol for up to 40 miles. Both cars and vans are available.
Another alternative is Whipcar, where you borrow vehicles in your neighbourhood from locals. Prices are cheaper – as little as £10 a day – but check the insurance covers your business use. Alternatively, don’t forget the traditional business options of leasing. You can compare the costs at moneysupermarket.com/car-leasing.
4. Rail rates
The only thing more complicated than booking a cheap train ticket (sorry, a super apex advance expensive jumbo cross-country journey ticket, as they seem to have been renamed) is buying two. The key thing to remember when trying to track down a cheap deal, though, is the magic number 12. That’s how many weeks you should try to book in advance, as it’s when new tickets are released so buying then means getting the cheapest tickets before they sell out. But remember, even if a last-minute business trip becomes necessary, then buying a ticket the day before online, will work out cheaper than doing so at the ticket office just before boarding.
Online, feel free to use comparison sites like thetrainline.com – this one is especially useful as it will show you the cheapest day and time to travel if your journey is flexible. When booking, however, go direct to the train operator’s website to avoid booking fees. For long journeys, you can make savings by splitting your ticket – buying two tickets for the same journey. The website splityourticket.co.uk will easily show you if you could make savings.
5. Plane deals
For plane journeys, plugging the route details into flight comparison sites skyscanner.net and kayak.co.uk will together bring up a comprehensive number of options. Obviously indirect, ill-timed flights are usually cheaper, but consider whether arriving tired and grumpy could be counter-active to the business meeting at the end of the flight. Following airlines on social networking sites such as Twitter means you’ll be the first to hear of any flight sales which you could use to book advance journeys.
6. Don’t move an inch
Yes, for decades doing business has revolved around face-to-face meetings but nowadays it really doesn’t have to. Even if you’re a tech-sceptic, it’s worth testing out some of the latest video conferencing tools to see if you like them. Just think how much time you’ll save Skype-ing with Colin in Colchester once a month instead of driving to him every six weeks. Skype is free for one-to-one chats with other users, but offers group videos via its premium service. Other alternatives include Gotomeeting.com, which works from iPad and iPhone as well as computer for group meetings, and also offers webinars for up to 1,000 people. Since it offers a month’s free trial, it’s an easy way to test the waters. After that it’s £29 a month or £276 a year.