Beating the credit crunch by saving money | part two

As funds for new equipment become tighter you may need to reconsider your hardware and software purchase plans.

Hardware soon becomes out of date and certainly within 3 – 4 years a desktop computer has lost any real value. Should you automatically go and get a new PC? Consider if you can hold onto the PC for another couple of years. Maybe more powerful PCs can be cascaded down the business to those that don’t need the more high end computers.

In the past it has not always been cost effective to repair computer equipment, but it might be worth your while to get a repair quote as it could save you some money.

Consider your use of printer cartridges.  There are many companies offering to refill empty cartridges and this service alone could save you money for little, if any, impact on the quality of the printing you do. After all, most printing you do is probably for internal use so does a slight reduction in quality really matter? You may also find that generic printer cartridges work out cheaper than the original branded make, so consider this when making your initial purchases.

Broadband vendors are starting to offer competitive deals in an attempt to get people signed up. Take a look at these offers as they come out and see if switching to a new supplier could save you money. I would suggest only switching over if the deal is very good as there may be an interruption to your service if something does go wrong – I know as this is a problem I have faced.

You may also want to consider your use of office space and review if you and the team really need to be in the same office. Could you work from home instead, taking advantage of some of the new virtual meeting software now available? Couple this with internet based telephone calls and you can start to save quite a bit of money.

These guides should be able to help you further;

Finding hardware products and suppliers

Managing Home Workers

Online Project Management   

Online Sharing of Documents

Buying low cost IT for your business

Mr BITG

The Business IT Guide