The name of the game for every business is to make money, but to make money, you need to spend money. The good news is that there are several effective strategies to help you streamline your overhead without cutting corners.
With rising costs impacting businesses across every sector, and customers feeling more pinched (and therefore more economically conscious), companies must find that sweet spot between saving money and maintaining a strong backbone that supports growth.
This guide outlines all the top strategies that will help you reduce operating costs while boosting operations, as well as what to look out for to get the most value out of all the top strategies available to you in 2025 and beyond.
Outsource to Agencies
One of the more powerful and simpler solutions to maximize your operations while reducing costs is to outsource to agencies. This way, if you only have the budget to hire one or maybe two HR specialists, for example, but would prefer a whole team, you can. Instead of making do with a small internal team, you can outsource to a company like HR Dept and gain access to an entire agency’s worth of specialists, and only pay for them when you need them.
Not only can you save by adjusting your commitments based on your needs, but you can also benefit from the peace of mind that you’re covered legally, which is something that even AI solutions can’t provide (yet!).
Partner with Businesses to Offload In-House Teams
In addition to outsourcing work to agencies to handle influxes when needed, you can also build lasting partnerships with complementary businesses. For example, if you’re a marketing agency, you could partner with an SEO agency. You pass on any SEO work you need done and get paid simply for passing it on. The same can work in the other way. Think of it like having multiple subcontractors that you can turn to, beefing up your own operations without increasing your overheads.
Use AI to Support Operations
AI-powered tools can be a powerful way to supercharge your business, however if you jump in with two feet, you’ll end up with a messy program that causes more problems than it solves. The last thing you want is a system that your employees need to babysit and spend precious hours fixing.
To help you find and implement the best AI solutions for your business and either supercharge operations or help you streamline your overheads, use these tips:
Start with What Your Teams Need
Work with your teams to understand what’s on their wish lists for AI or other tech solutions. They’ll have firsthand and intimate knowledge of the workflows they’re using, and where they’re lacking. By working alongside your staff, you can understand precisely what you need and build essential rapport with your workers. If they’re the ones who are choosing the AI solutions, then they’ll be far more on board with integrating those solutions into their operations.
Consider Reviews, Not Tech Decks
One of the easiest ways to help you understand which AI solutions are right for you is to look at real user reviews and feedback, and not the tech decks. Companies are regularly overpromising what their products can do, which hasn’t matched reality. This is often because most products are just an LLM wrapper. In essence, you’re paying for an interface and hard-coded prompts, but ultimately just using OpenAI.
This doesn’t mean that all AI products are the same, not at all. What it means is that you need to be critical of the infrastructure supporting it and its usability. Check reviews, ask around, and use industry-approved products with a positive track record.
Sometimes “Dumb” Automation is Best
Another key thing to note is that, sometimes, automation is simply going to be better than a complete AI solution. If you need your system to automatically reorder a product when stocks are low, for example, you don’t need a supercharged AI solution. You simply need an optimized enterprise resource planning solution that allows disparate systems to communicate and execute conditional (if this, then that) tasks.
Guardrail Your Chatbots
Another powerful way to boost operations and lower costs is to use a chatbot as your business’s first point of contact. Think of them like a more natural directory that can answer questions or connect customers to your customer service team if necessary. What’s key, however, is that you ensure that there are strong guardrails in place. The chatbot should only answer questions that it knows the answer to. If it doesn’t, it needs to direct customers to the customer service team.
Rely on Remote Work to Reduce Office-Based Costs
If your lease is up, then consider moving either to a flexible office space or a smaller one. The smaller your footprint, the cheaper your overheads and utilities costs will be. You don’t even need to reduce staff or operations; simply offer more at-home days. Coordinate so that different groups or teams come into the office to boost teamwork and collaboration without needing everyone in the office on the same days.
You’ll maximize the value of your office, give your staff a great perk, and boost teamwork all in one fell swoop. It’s a win, win.
Work to Reduce Waste and Save on Materials
Another key area where costs are skyrocketing is in raw materials. With supply chains disrupted, climate disasters impacting production, and cost-of-living crises happening all around the world, materials are becoming more expensive.
Yes, you can adjust the materials in your products, but this can also reduce product quality, which, in turn, could affect your customer retention. Thankfully, there’s a more pressing concern to focus on first, and that’s waste. Waste in manufacturing is estimated to amount to 20% of every dollar you spend. Globally, this adds up to $8 trillion USD per year.
To reduce your waste spend, work with product developers to design zero-waste solutions, or even partner with businesses that could use your waste. Every cent either saved or passed on by selling the waste in question is an opportunity to improve your overheads and operating costs, and, in turn, boost your business.
