Do business owners have to turn their entire company upside down and restructure everything to avoid wasting resources and money? The surprising answer is that they don’t, and that’s because there are dozens of straightforward techniques that can prevent waste, conserve assets, and boost profits at the same time. What’s more, in order to implement these strategies, owners and managers don’t need to call in expensive consulting agencies or hire outside specialists. For many organizations, going paperless is the easiest step of all and the first move they make within a long-term process of minimizing wasteful activities.
Companies that operate vehicle fleets can focus on adding technological solutions that reduce idling, a practice that costs money and pollutes the environment. Real estate and medical professionals are using the power of the internet to work with clients and patients via video connections. Office managers in multiple industries, financial entities, and all kinds of merchants are taking advantage of things like smart lighting systems, local delivery, and online transactions to help consumers avoid the need to make numerous trips in personal cars. Use the following ideas to jump-start your company’s effort to cut down on wastefulness across the commercial spectrum of activity.
Tax Accounting Firms: Go Paperless
CPA and law firms are leading the way in the paperless transformation of the office culture. Because professionals are armed with smartphones, tablets, and efficient computer networks, wood-based paper is quickly becoming a relic of bygone eras. The upshot of going paperless is that companies stand to not only reduce the consumption of wood pulp but also experience a concomitant reduction of office supply expenses.
Transport Vehicle Fleets: Minimize Idling
In the transportation industry, something as seemingly as unimportant as engine idling can lead to massive amounts of wasted fuel, dirty air, and damage to truck engines. Fleet managers have their hands quite full with dozens of varied responsibilities, and the quest to cut down on unnecessary idling is one of the most impactful ones. By industry definition, an idle engine is one that is on but not propelling the motion of the vehicle, which remains parked but with its engine running.
Of course, in ordinary use, every vehicle’s engine is in an idled state for random short periods, but when too much time is spent on but not in motion, then vehicles are susceptible to burning too much fuel, creating excessive exhaust, and harming the overall health of their engines. If you work in the transport industry, take the time to review a complete information resource about why too much idling is so expensive, is sometimes unlawful in certain jurisdictions, and can be reduced with new technological solutions.
Real Estate Agents: Post Virtual Showings
Virtual house showings are the primary tool in the real estate market for agents who want to increase sales, draw in more potential buyers, and vastly decrease travel time, gasoline usage, and paperwork. Thanks to the internet and the widespread use of mobile devices by home shoppers, it’s easier than ever to walk through any home on the market via the magic of online video connections.
Doctors and Psychologists: Enable Tele-Visits
Insurance companies are teaming up with medical and other healthcare professionals to streamline the delivery of routine services like check-ups, medication consults, and more. The change has been a boon to patients who need psychological counseling but don’t have transportation to places where most of the professionals are located. Tele-visits are part of a new paradigm of health treatment that benefits practitioners as well as patients.
Offices, Merchants, and Banks: Use Smart Lighting and Encourage Online Transactions
Smart lighting systems cost very little to install but can help even small offices chop a considerable amount off the monthly utility bills. Likewise, financial institutions are discovering that one way to discourage drive-through banking is to enable all account holders to do their business online, via phone, tablet, or computer. Merchants in retail and other industries, especially those who are turning a creative hobby into a career and producing goods from home, are opting to offer home delivery as a way to entice customers with convenience and cut down on their clients’ use of gasoline. Grocery and pharmacy chains pioneered the concept as a matter of basic marketing in years past, but nowadays, the practice is taking hold throughout the entire business community as a way to minimize individual trips to the store. Delivery drivers can serve hundreds of customers much more efficiently.
