Michael Byers
Here is one employee benefit that won't cost you a thing: discounts on sporting events, movies, plays, theme-park admission, and the like. Sign up for free at Plum Benefits or Working Advantage, and you will get a monthly e-mail with discounts for your employees.
Hiring a full-time IT staff is costly—the average IT employee's salary is about $80,000 a year, according to Global Knowledge, an IT training company. Some companies save money by outsourcing their IT departments to local managed services firms, which can charge as little as $30,000 a year to remotely monitor a company's servers and look after its e-mail and phone systems. If all you really need is someone to call when your computer is on the fritz or you can't get the printer to work, a few services offer low-cost tech support. For $15 to $30 a month, PlumChoice will provide unlimited support for one Mac or PC as well as any connected devices such as scanners and printers. Explain your problem to a rep over the phone, and he or she will log in to your computer remotely while you are on the line. For $15 a month, Office Depot provides a similar service for PC users. If the technician can't fix your problem over the phone, you can bring your computer to a store for an evaluation.
Building Bonds A corporate group builds a house in Bristol, Pennsylvania, for Habitat for Humanity.
Courtesy DOW Chemical
Outings like corporate ski trips are great for morale, but between transportation, lodging, food, and ski passes, they can set you back thousands of dollars, even for a small group. Instead, volunteer together at a local charity. It's certainly not as glamorous or relaxing, but rallying around a cause helps employees bond—and feel good about giving back. Many local food banks allow corporate groups to sort and stock food as well as serve meals to the needy. Or employees can work together to build a home for Habitat for Humanity, which has some 1,600 chapters nationwide. (It's free to volunteer at many chapters, but some of them charge businesses a sponsorship fee.) Visit 1-800-Volunteer.org to find more group volunteering opportunities in your area.
Corbis
The key to getting a good deal on janitorial services is knowing what you need before you sign a contract. Choose a service with a 30- to 60-day trial period, which will give you the chance to scale back on services you may not need—such as carpet cleaning or light-fixture dusting. The average cost to clean small offices (less than 2,500 square feet) is about $34 a visit, according to BuyerZone.com. For more than 10,000 square feet of office space, the average cost per visit is about $103. Make sure the cleaning service is bonded and insured in case of damage or theft.
On CNET's Download.com, you can find countless free desktop applications to handle things such as e-mail (Mozilla Thunderbird) and word processing (OpenOffice). Many Web-based applications also offer free editions. Google Apps, which includes applications for e-mail, word processing, and spreadsheets, is free for groups of 10 or fewer. (It's $5 a month per user for larger businesses.) For discounts on software, check out AppSumo, a Groupon-style site for Web-based programs. Or go to SoftwareMedia.com or Newegg.com for discounts on software out of the box.
"We never buy anything without looking for a special offer. For example, we use Grasshopper for our phone service. We got the service for $25 instead of $100 by using a coupon from AppSumo."
—Tracy Sigler, co-founder of AVL Marketing, Asheville, North Carolina
Bernard Hoffman/Getty
Some of the larger banks, including Citibank and Bank of America, offer low rates on payroll services to their business customers. For a 50-person company, Citibank charges $85 a month and Bank of America charges $96 for services that include direct deposit and electronic filing of federal and state taxes. (Some payroll providers charge up to $300 a month for these services.) If your bank doesn't offer payroll processing, try Intuit Online Payroll, which charges $112.50 a month for 50 employees. One catch: Intuit charges extra to process payroll for employees and contractors in multiple states ($12 for each additional state).
Michael Byers
An internship program is a great source of educated, enthusiastic, and inexpensive workers. It's also a cost-effective way to recruit and check out potential full-time hires. You can find interns through career centers at universities or through sites such as Internships.com and Urban Interns. Keep in mind, though, that interns usually can't work for free. (Go to www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm to read the legal requirements for unpaid interns.) For occasional tasks that require specialized skills, you can save by using freelancers. Sites like Elance, Guru, and oDesk let you post positions for free and search through databases of freelance designers, programmers, and other workers.
The average cost for primo office space varies widely by city, from $17 a square foot in Boise, Idaho, to $66 per square foot in New York City. Some of the best bargains on Class A space can be found in Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston, says Robert Bach, chief economist at Grubb & Ellis, a commercial real estate firm. Though these cities have growing populations, vacancy rates for commercial space are high (Atlanta's is 22.8 percent, compared with the national average of 17.7 percent), which means that landlords are more willing to offer concessions, such as a free month of rent and generous tenant improvement allowances.
Some business owners maintain that it's worth ponying up thousands of dollars for a logo from a professional design firm. But if you don't have that kind of budget, you can get one for less by holding a logo contest. On sites such as 99designs and HatchWise, you describe what you are looking for, and designers submit entries over a few days. (Most contests receive from 20 to 100 submissions.) You give constructive feedback and select a winner. At HatchWise, it costs $29 to post a project, plus a prize of at least $100 for the winning designer. At 99designs, the cheapest logo package is $295, which includes the winning designer's prize. Typically, the larger your prize, the more design submissions you receive.
Michael Byers
Often, the key to finding better airfares is being flexible. Sites like Kayak let you search airfares by a range of dates. If you have frequent-flier miles, UsingMiles.com will help you make the most of them to
get the lowest fare. While researching prices, sign up for Yapta, a site that sends you an e-mail alert when fares drop. It's also useful after you have booked your flight. If there is a big drop in price ($150 or more), many airlines, including American Airlines and Delta, will refund you the difference in the form of a travel voucher.
"We accrue points on our Amex card and use them to pay for travel and equipment, as well as gift cards to thank our clients for referring us."
—Bibby Gignilliat, founder of Parties That Cook, San Francisco
Corbis
Frequent travelers have long tapped hotel loyalty programs to lower travel costs (and earn free vacations). InterContinental Hotels Group, which has 4,400 properties in more than 100 countries, has one of the best, with no blackout dates and points that never expire. Before booking any hotel room, check out PointMaven.com, a site that lists various promotions for earning bonus points at some 30,000 hotels. In big cities with high hotel prices, you can sometimes save by renting an apartment. On HomeAway, a vacation rental site, a furnished two-bedroom in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood recently listed for $125 a night or $750 for the week. And the owners offered free rides to and from the airport.
