Two Rules of Cost Control

• Commodity Goods & Services: there's someone cheaper somewhere. Always.
• People and Resources: "Mission Critical" is an over-used term, and very often an excuse for spending too much.

...and One Rule of Cash Control

You probably need less cash than you think.

Costs and Cash are not Afterthoughts

When management teams are busy driving their business forward they sometimes struggle to find the time to think carefully about costs and cash.

When you consider what a 10% reduction in costs would do to the bottom line it makes sense to have a very close look at what the business spends.

Through effective purchasing, active supplier management and smart spending controls it is very often possible to achieve substantial and sustainable cost reductions.

It's the same with cash management: a really close look at how a business handles cash will normally reveal opportunities for it to run leaner.

Effective control of costs and cash requires that the senior management team ask itself some tough questions; and the best time to review both is when things are going well...