Good to Great: How to Scale With an Outsourced CFO

The end of the year is a great time for looking back, reflecting, and taking stock for the future. When you run your own business, the future is up to you. If your business has seemed stagnant in the past year, perhaps it's time to unlock more budget to make room for growth in the coming year.

Every business is different; your expenses may differ greatly from a similar business in the same town. But one thing is certain: budgets deal with a finite amount of money. If you want to unlock more of your budget to grow your business, you'll have to make some changes.

Let's take a look at 5 ways to unlock more budget to grow.

1.Reduce Expenses that Don't Directly Improve Your Bottom Line

It was nice to send employees to that trade show last year, but did it make a difference in your company's success? If not, consider eliminating that expense and shifting those funds to growth-related ventures. This can be difficult, especially if traditions have been established that don't contribute to growth, but the positive changes can have a lasting impact on your company's well-being.

2. Outsource Some Tasks

Depending on your business structure, you may be able to save money by outsourcing some of your work. Instead of hiring full-time staff members to manage financial, marketing, shipping, or other work, you could outsource to firms that focus solely on one area. These firms have systems in place to ensure that the work is done efficiently and well, and you decrease your liability by handing these tasks off to experts. Additionally, most companies find that it's less expensive to outsource than to hire and train in-house staff and then deal with turnover inefficiencies when in-house staff leaves.

3. Reduce Travel Costs

Business travel is expensive, but if you're flexible in your operations, you may be able to significantly reduce travel costs. Video conferencing and telecommuting can allow you to accomplish many tasks that traditionally required plane tickets but now can be done for free. When you or your employees must travel, look for deals on hotel rooms and transportation costs, and lump trips together whenever possible.

4. Obtain a Loan Based on Forward Projections

When businesses plateau, new life can be injected into them with an influx of capital. Obtaining a working capital loan to invest into advertising, capital improvements, or the hiring of new talent can have long-term benefits. Solid financial projections are essential for this method of providing room to grow, but it can really pay off. 

5. Spend Less on Space

If your lease is set to renew soon, renegotiate for cheaper rent. When you can reduce recurring expenses like rent, you essentially provide your company with a larger budget every single month.

If your current space no longer serves you well, look for space that costs less. Another way to reduce your overhead expenses is to evaluate the usage of your current space. If you have empty office or warehouse space, consider sub-letting or giving up some of your space. A talented office designer can help you see how to use your space more wisely.

You've Got the Cash. What's Next?

Once you have used one or more of these strategies to unlock more room in your budget, you'll have cash available with which to grow your business. Before you launch into spending mode, think about what will have the highest impact on your business in the long run. Is it a top-notch employee? Do you need new equipment or supplies? How about a new marketing campaign or research and development for a new line of products?

With these and more possibilities available to you, the coming year can be a year of promise and potential. Instead of coasting along on a plateau, you can begin to climb again.