Don’t let your expenses stress you out. Find out how you can reduce cleaning costs and lower your overhead.
Whether you run your own commercial cleaning business or you’re working as a building service contractor, you have to keep an eye on your budget. And it’s not hard to figure out that if you can reduce cleaning costs without your quality suffering, you can make that budget look better and better.
Cleaning costs may include anything from payroll to business insurance to equipment maintenance to supplies. These are all things you need, of course. You can’t very well run a business otherwise. You can, however, reduce cleaning costs while still taking care of your business. And one way that covers a lot of ground is tracking your inventory.
Make your cleaning business more organized, efficient, and profitable. Schedule a call with Janitorial Manager to learn how mobile-friendly scheduling software can help you streamline your operation like never before.
6 Ways Better Inventory Tracking Will Reduce Cleaning Costs for Your Business
Inventory tracking isn’t the only way to reduce cleaning costs, but it’s often overshadowed by payroll. Certainly, there are ways to reduce your payroll costs without impacting quality. Software like Janitorial Manager can help you schedule more efficiently, and it offers you the ability to use geofencing to clock employees in and out.
You can also use the software to track your billing, streamline inspections, and use the built-in calculator to bid on jobs more accurately. All of these will help you reduce your overall expenses, as well. Right now, though, let’s look at some of the ways inventory tracking can reduce cleaning costs for your company.
- Lower frequency of shipping. There are several ways you can reduce cleaning costs through lower shipping expenses so you will see some variations on this throughout this list. The first, however, is that you will pay less for shipping charges when you make fewer orders. Makes sense, right? How, though? When you track your inventory, you know when you’re getting low on supplies or products. You can consolidate these items (the ones you need now and the items you’ll need soon) into one delivery, thereby cutting out an extra delivery.
- No rush shipping. Rush orders can add up fast. The specifics vary depending on your vendor and situation, but no matter how you look at it, there’s no bargain to be had in a last-minute order. With inventory tracking, you know where you stand, so you never have to run out of the things you need to do your job.
- You won’t over-order. It’s happened to all of us. Something we need gets hidden behind other boxes, and we don’t see it, so we order it. You aren’t running a restaurant, so this issue isn’t as dire. Unlike, say, a case of apples, it’s unlikely that an extra case of toilet paper will go bad. Even so, there’s no need to spend more than you have to. Besides, your storage space is most likely limited.
- You can track product waste. Waste could be anything from spills to using too much concentrate. Either way, it’s money down the drain. Tracking inventory can help ensure you’re going through your products at the expected rate.
- Identify missing products and supplies. Inventory tracking can also help you spot an anomaly in the amount of products or supplies your business is using. For example, if you find that you’re suddenly going through more general-purpose cleaner, you can dig deeper to learn why. Just be aware that it’s not ideal to conclude that missing items automatically mean employee theft. There are plenty of other reasons supplies might go missing, from spills to product damage to improper use.
- More appropriate storage expenses. Here’s another under-the-radar way you can reduce cleaning costs with inventory tracking. If you rent warehouse or storage space to hold your supplies, you’re likely paying by the square foot. With better inventory tracking, you might find you can reduce the amount of storage space you need, thereby lowering your cost.
Inventory tracking not only helps lower your costs, but also improves your customer service. For example, imagine telling a customer you can’t fulfill your end of the contract because you ran out of the eco-friendly cleaning solution they specifically requested or think about how you would feel if someone on your team contacts you to let you know they don’t have toilet paper to refill the bathroom stalls.
Inventory tracking is vital. And it’s especially important if you have supplies and products stored across several locations, such as on-site janitor’s closets. Without tracking, there’s almost no way to avoid overordering, underordering, rush shipping, and all the other issues that drive up your costs.
Harness the value of Janitorial Manager to streamline your cleaning operation like never before. Learn more today with a discovery call and find out how to make your cleaning operation more efficient and cost effective!