Businesses need clients to invoice and collect from: that is the first step to achieving maximum profitability. It’s the main ingredient in the recipe for success and the minimum guarantee of survival. But while this is the fundamental issue, it’s not the only factor needed for growth: there are other relevant aspects that drive competitiveness, such as reducing expenses, improving technology, making strategic investments, and many more possibilities.

Controlling costs while increasing revenues should be an objective for any company. The benefits are obvious: higher profits, lower risk, improved competitiveness… the recipe for success. The question is: how can this be done?

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Cutting Costs in SMEs

It’s not an easy task, but there are ways to achieve it. New technologies, for example, can be very helpful. Proper use of social media allows businesses to connect with potential clients at relatively low cost, marketing automation tools help improve sales strategies with less effort, and email marketing provides communication at the lowest possible expense. And, of course, the corporate website offers endless opportunities for conversion without the heavy resource demands of traditional commercial activity: landing pages, downloadable content, web chat, newsletters, forms, webinars, case studies, blogs, etc.

The goal of improving profits must be a strategic decision involving the entire company. When everyone rows in the same direction, it’s possible to generate ideas and initiatives that drive improvement across the organization. Beyond setting strategies and steps for each objective, some ideas to instill in the team include the following:

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Customer Knowledge and Care

This approach influences every process, from communication to product development. Understanding the customer is essential to offering relevant products and services in the most suitable way, taking into account their needs and preferences. This shortens the sales process, which has a positive impact on costs.

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Training

In increasingly competitive environments (as well as in today’s labor market), learning and experience allow work to be done better, faster, and with fewer resources. Moreover, the speed at which technology evolves requires continuous training; and since this is a key factor for competitiveness, having profiles that evolve in this direction is critical.

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Building Connections

Collaboration offers many opportunities for business development. That’s why networking, attending events, co-creating success stories with clients, and promoting interactions of all kinds that generate synergies are valuable ways to invest time.

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Energy Savings

Although the margin for improvement may be small in many companies, experts recommend reviewing energy use to cut costs. Simple actions such as turning off devices and lights when not in use, switching to efficient appliances or bulbs, and managing heating or cooling rationally can add up to major annual savings.

The same approach can be applied to printing, phone bills, business travel, and other supplies.

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Management Software

In many cases, the best way to increase profits and generate significant long-term savings comes from an investment. Depending on the improvement area identified, this investment may vary, but most often management solutions are involved: ERP systems for production, logistics, or finance; CRM systems for sales, marketing, or customer support. Business intelligence software is also common, enabling data consolidation, improved decision-making, forecasting, and other highly demanded functions at the management level across finance, sales, purchasing, and even manufacturing.

These tools provide essential added value by improving visibility across the entire company, making it possible to focus on inefficient or improvable processes. Ultimately, business growth depends on solving inefficiencies and strengthening key processes. Both paths lead to increased profits while containing costs.