There’s always that one line in your bank feed that makes you squint. You don’t remember signing up for it, you’re not quite sure what it does, and yet… there it is. Again and again.

Small business owners are brilliant at creating products and services, but when it comes to cutting costs? Well, let’s just say they tend to creep in while you’re busy doing literally everything else.

Here’s how to find the leaks and plug them without turning your business into a joyless, penny-pinching grind.

Start with a proper expense audit

This is when you need to be thorough. Pull the last three months of transactions from your bank account and go through it line by line. Don’t skim, take a proper look.Grab your red pen and flag anything that makes you pause.

This could be subscriptions you forgot, such as tools you trialled and never cancelled or an ‘essential’ platform you use once a month.

A friend of mine, Mia, who is a Sydney-based marketing consultant did this simple exercise and found she was paying for: Two email marketing platforms (she’d migrated but never cancelled the old one), a stock image subscription she hadn’t touched in six months plus a  premium Zoom plan she didn’t need.

She cut them in under an hour and saved over $2,000 a year. Not life-changing on its own, but not nothing either.

Watch out for the ‘stacking’ effect

Most overspending isn’t because you’ve had a big blowout on a major purchase (though hey, sometimes it is). Instead, it’s usually small purchases that chip away, eroding your income. $15 here. $29 there. Another $12.99 because it felt cheap at the time. All those subscriptions you’ve bought begin to mount up.

So grab your calculator and add up all your software and subscriptions. Now ask: do they overlap?

A tradie we spoke with who runs a small electrical business, realised he was using three different apps for quoting, invoicing and job tracking. Each one “pretty good”. Together? Expensive and messy.

He switched to one all-in-one platform. Slight learning curve, but he cut his monthly software bill by 40 per cent and stopped double-handling admin.

Renegotiate like you mean it

Loyalty is lovely when you’re talking about friend groups but in business, it’s expensive. Suppliers, insurance providers, internet plans, phone companies … if you’ve been with the same provider for years, there’s a decent chance you’re overpaying.

Pick up the phone and ask for a review of your contract. Don’t send an email, make a call – you’ll get a better result. We do this kind of tactic in our Kochie’s Budget Challenge with everyday Aussies for our TV show, Your Money & Your Life, and you’d be surprised just how much you can save if you renegotiate with your current provider.

If they won’t budge, shop around. You don’t have to switch everything, but knowing your options gives you leverage.

Does it add value?

Not every expense is bad, some just aren’t pulling their weight. Look at your regular spend and ask yourself: does this directly help me make money, save time, or improve customer experience?

If the answer is a shrug, it’s on the chopping block.

A retail store owner realised she was spending hundreds each month boosting social posts that weren’t converting. She redirected that budget into email marketing and a simple loyalty program. Sales went up even while her ad spend went down.

Make time to keep track

Cutting costs once is good. Keeping them under control is even better. So eet a date in your calendar to perform a monthly 30-minute money check. Review any new expenses. Question anything new before it becomes permanent and cancel what you don’t need.

Give yourself one rule: no new subscription without cancelling or justifying another. It sounds basic, but it works to stop your expenses from climbing. Most of the time, your savings are hiding in plain sight. You just have to go looking for them and put a stop to paying for things that aren’t earning their keep.

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