Money Saving Tips for your Massage Business
It is a natural fact. If you are in business, you use stuff. To use stuff, you must purchase the stuff you use from someplace. You have to pay for the stuff you get from someplace with some method of payment. And the cost of the stuff you buy may vary for different people based on how much stuff you buy at once, and how you pay for the stuff you order.
So how do you save money or gain benefit from the stuff you have to buy? I mean, isn’t it just as simple as picking up the phone and buying? Well, in actuality, it can be just that simple. But if you take a moment to evaluate your needs, your repetitive purchases, your minimum stock levels, and how you pay for items, it really CAN save you money in the long run. Here are a few things to consider when working to reduce the cost of stuff overall.
- Take a look at your usage of a product. If you feel like you are always running low, or have to repeatedly purchase this item more than once a month, then it may serve you well to order bulk. When you order bulk, you can often ask for additional discounts. If you order bulk, try to learn what the case quantity is as well, because if you buy in case quantity, you may also be able to reduce breakage and reduce shipping costs.
- How do you buy your massage goods? Do you buy online? Do you call in an order? If you are a frequent purchaser or have multiple locations, you may wish to inquire whether your supplier has a Corporate Sales program which can sometimes provide deeper discounts as opposed to purchasing your massage goods online.
- What payment method do you use to pay for your massage goods? Consider opening a credit card for the sole purpose of managing your massage business expenses. It is far easier to write one check a month to pay a balance on a card rather than sit and spend untold hours paying bills and keeping records. Credit Card Companies keep records for you, and before you incur interest, pay the balance in full each month.
- Select a credit card company that rewards you. Be it in Airline Miles, Points or Cash Back, find a way to parlay those business expenses into a spa day for you! American Express is wonderful for this purpose, and they allow you to use your points for EVERYTHING from gift cards < which are great employee or client gifts> to plane tickets which allow you discounted travel!
- Save your packing slips. If you itemize at tax time, < as most businesses do> some items may be tax deductible. Your packing slips should be filed so you have them handy when you are ready to file taxes. Don’t be delayed by having to request copies from your supplier! This can sometimes take quite a while!
Making sure you have made adjustments to your purchasing programs to embrace these tips can save you a pretty penny in the long run. It saves you time, effort and energy once you become accustomed to buying once a month and can significantly reduce your costs.
Happy Shopping!
By Angie Patrick, Director of Corporate Sales & Business Development, Massage Warehouse
