4 business expenses to cut that actually save money
Anaita shares four expenses she cut from her business in the last two months: paying for small business award entries, sticking with an expensive email platform instead of switching or negotiating, using standard shipping instead of a shipping aggregator, and giving away full-size products in event goodie bags. She backs this with specifics, like saving $12,000 a month by switching couriers, and argues these cuts save real money without hurting credibility or exposure.
The lessons
Stop paying for small business award entries, they rarely improve conversion and mostly exist to make the award company money
Negotiate your email platform's rate or switch providers to save hundreds or thousands a month, since most platforms offer similar deliverability and features
Use a shipping aggregator so orders automatically go to the cheapest, fastest courier instead of defaulting to one carrier
Don't put full-size products into event goodie bags, set up an activation instead since goodie bags waste money for little real exposure
Questions people ask
Are small business awards worth paying for?
Generally no, most charge $100-$200 just to apply so you can put a small credibility badge on your website, which doesn't meaningfully affect conversion. Anaita says the real exceptions are prestigious recognitions like Forbes 30 Under 30 or Rich List, but smaller local awards mainly exist to make the organizing company money.
How can I reduce my shipping costs?
Use a shipping aggregator tool like ShipIt or StarshipIt, which automatically picks the cheapest and fastest courier for each order coming from Shopify or your web platform. Anaita says switching away from relying mainly on Australia Post to other couriers saved her business $12,000 a month.
Should I put my products in event goodie bags for exposure?
Anaita advises against putting full-size products, pamphlets or brochures into goodie bags, calling it a waste of money and time. She suggests setting up an activation at the event instead as a better way to get exposure.
Transcript
As I go through this difficult time in my business, I have been cutting away so many expenses. I thought that I would share with you some of the expenses that I have cut in the last 2 months that have really moved the needle. I am only looking out for myself and for other small business owners. If you are a tech provider, an agency, or anyone that supplies to a small business, this video is really not for you because I'm about to be brutally honest in what you need to cut.
Number 1, stop paying for award entries. I know, I know everyone says that they're so important and they give you credibility on your website, increase your conversion rate, Let me tell you right now, no, they don't. A lot of the time they charge you $100, $200 just to apply for the award, just so you can put a little tiny bloody badge on your website for credibility. You might as well just put new product badges or bestseller badges or popular badges.
They're going to do the exact same thing. Sorry, I said what I said. Some awards do mean something. So for example, Forbes 30 Under 30, Rich List.
I think those are true credibility factors. The other awards, the small-time business awards, the secret around those is that the company that's running it They're only running those awards to make money. And then what they'll do is they'll add more categories so that more people apply and more people are finalists and more people have to pay them to show the badge on the website. Number 2, switch out your email platform.
I know it seems hard because the flows are in there, campaigns are in there, and it feels like it's overwhelming because you need to redo all those things on a new platform. But I'm telling you right now, you could save yourself $500 or $1,000 a month if you switch over to something else. Don't listen to them when they talk about deliverability and ours has a better open rate and we can give you this and we can— No, they are email platforms, and as long as you're sending good emails with good subject lines and good content, your emails will get read. They all have segmentation.
They're all building out the AI tools. Say you go, well, I don't really want to switch, it's too hard. At least try and negotiate your rate down. Number 3 is to use a shipping aggregator.
So we use a tool called ShipIt. There's another one called StarshipIt. There's, there are many of them. Order will come through from Shopify or your web platform, and it will pick the cheapest and fastest courier, and that's the courier that will come and pick up the parcel and take it.
In the last month, what we've done is chosen to not go so much with Australia Post and go with other couriers, and we have saved $12,000 a month. And number 4 is one that a lot of small businesses fall into the trap of. Please don't put your products, a full-size product, into a goodie bag. I know a lot of you do it, and I'm sure some of you have gotten some kind of success for it, at least brand exposure or something like that, but you are losing money.
I think that there are better ways to get exposure from that event, and that's to set up an activation there. Putting pamphlets, brochures, and your products into a goodie bag is a waste of your time and money, and that's how I
