Small business owners are always looking to reduce overhead. Today, many are finding ways to use cloud computing and remote workers to realize savings. A location-flexible work environment can result in lower overhead than maintaining a traditional office space, according to an article on Business 2 Community, a popular business blog.
The key to trimming overhead is choosing the right combination of cloud services, many of which offer indirect cost savings. For example, many small- and medium-sized businesses move to a cloud data backup service because they’re tired of paying their local IT staff to do the backup for them. The subscription saves them money and offers more control over their data. That means companies don’t have to go through IT to get to their information.
The cloud offers a huge range of services — remote software, hardware, applications and other tools accessed online or through another network. The Business 2 Community article also suggests three areas where the cloud can help your business cut cost
1) Remote networks: If you’re a small shop, you might not need your own Cisco network when you could virtualize it instead for a monthly fee. With software and data stored on a remote network, you don’t need to worry about updates, upgrades or losing data from a faulty hard drive.
2) Business software: You can save significant amounts of money by using software as a service (SaaS) options for your accounting, project management and customer relationship management programs. Typically, your business would pay a monthly fee to access these programs online, often with savings compared to buying and maintaining the software.
3) Processing payments: Cloud-based tools now make it easy to process credit cards online and use your smart devices to accept mobile payments at expos, trade shows and other events.
For many small businesses, choosing the right combination of services can result in significant savings. Share your company’s story in the comments. How are you using the cloud to lower overhead?
