6 Ways to Reduce Office Supply Costs

Everywhere that there are offices, there is a need for office supplies. Business transactions occurring everyday make for tons of paper, pens, pencils, staples, and lots more of other office items to be consumed in billions of offices all across the globe. Costs from purchasing office supplies could account up to 40% of an office's operational expenses, on the average. More often than not, companies spend 20% more than they really have to.

Revenues grow smaller when a company wastes money. Companies that could be earning $150,000 in profits might be losing up to 30% of potential income due to unnecessary spending on office supplies. Experienced businessmen know that it's easier to reduce expenses than to increase profits. If your profit margin is 5%, you can double your company's profit by reducing expenses in that same amount.

I wrote this article to present some practical and effective steps to cut costs on your office supplies. Follow these steps and your operational costs will reduce significantly and your revenue start to grow.

1. Inventory all the office supplies that you have available right now and place them in specially designated areas where people can easily find them when needed.

2. Reuse old supplies. Binders, folders, or even notepads from last year can be reused or salvaged with a little inventiveness and resourcefulness.

3. Start a collection. All those expositions, seminars, and conferences can yield a lot of pencils, pens, and other goodies. You can stash them all and use them at the office.

4. Buy in bulk. A lot of office supply stores can give a substantial discount if you buy in bulk from them. Get enough supplies to last an entire year. If this proves to be too difficult, gather your friends, co-workers and associates who need the same supplies that you need.

5. Learn when to buy. There are slow seasons and peak seasons for these items. During summer, a lot of office supply stores offer discounts, sales, and rebates for these items, so try to stock up on what you need before you have to pay full price.

6. Use the Internet. There are a lot of good office supply stores on the Internet that can help you save money. Research on the best prices available for the supplies that you need. Most online stores have detailed pricing and delivery information available on their websites. You can save a lot of time and money by going online.

All of us can save money with a bit of common sense. You don't have to be an accountant to discover ways to save money. I hope that this article has provided you with valuable information about reducing expenses and saving money by buying and using office supplies wisely.

Azlan Irda is the co-founder of http://www.aamofficesupply.com which provides an extensive selection of high quality office supplies at affordable prices. Find out how you can save money and get the best, high-quality items when you buy staples office supplies.

- Azlan Irda