Help your staff cut down on their spending
The key to a successful frugal business is not just about the company saving money. It’s also about helping your staff to do the same. In fact, being frugal should never be the end point in itself, it should be a means by which you can achieve happiness as individuals and success as a business.
Making savings around the office helps the business to be fitter, healthier and in better shape. And passing on this attitude to staff can also hep trim off the fat, in more ways than one.
Encourage cycling
If you look at the bicycle in the right way, it’s a million dollar machine. It’s not something to be feared, it’s a tool that can help staff to save money and time on the commute, as well as a way of getting fit and healthy. Build a bike shelter, organise bike trains, sign up to cycle to work schemes and even give staff incentives to cycle. All of this will help them to feel better about themselves, have more energy and save money.
Think about how much it costs just to get to work in fuel, car insurance and associated costs. Take that out of the equation and it’s like giving your staff a pay rise.
Work lunches
Grabbing a sandwich from the café for lunch every day might not seem much but if you do the sums it adds up to a huge amount of money. Say it costs £5 a day for a quick bite. That’s £25 a week. And £1,300 a year. Add that up over a 25 year career and you’re looking at £32,500 just on lunch. Just imagine what that money could have done if you’d invested it rather than spent it on sandwiches.
Encourage staff to make and bring their own lunches or even set up a lunch scheme where people take it in turns to cook. You can make it healthy, or even an event. Plus, taking a regular lunch break has been found to improve productivity.
As well as ensuring staff are safe at work (including providing all the right equipment such as evac chairs) looking out for their financial well being can also have amazing effects. Try implementing any of the above and see how shared frugality works for you.