How to stop overspending on business software

Many firms manage 10+ software subscriptions regularly, for automating marketing, sales, operations, finance, HR etc...

Each one alone may not be much, but added together means businesses are spending £10k+ on business software monthly. Worst of all, these subscriptions are not maximised to their full benefit simply because a lot of the functionality is not necessary for the business. Below, we have 5 actionable tips to stop overspending on business software for SME's.

1. Use tiered access

If you have 50 employees, not all 50 need access to your software tools, CRM or ERP. Sometimes, read-only access is sufficient and comes at a much lower recurring price. Managing access will give you more control over the usage of the software, cut cost and not deprive yourself of anything.

2. Limit your tools

Subscribing to latest versions of software products, signing up for new services because they are marketed well simply doesn't make any sense. Your business will not grow if the number of services you sign up to grows, only the bill will grow. Look at what tools are actively being used and bringing value for your business, discard the rest.

3. Avoid generalisation

Don’t buy or subscribe to the popular tools that ‘every business must have’ - this is no longer the case. There is no must have service for every business so don’t blindly follow the status quo. Often, popular tools come at a higher price and your business doesn't need all the functionality that you are ultimately paying for.

4. Pick and stick

A common overspending habit is temporarily signing up for software to ‘try’. For example, signing up to monthly access then sticking to that long term... best to decide after one month and change that to a yearly plan. This is often more cost efficient and could save 20-40% annually.

5. Bundle services

A lot of businesses, especially SME’s use too many tools for different tasks and have 10+ subscriptions. You are spending a little here and there, but on the whole, it becomes more expensive than getting a fully custom business app tailored to your particular needs. Compare the cost and you will be surprised.