As the Philippine market continues to develop, competition among locally based small businesses is likely to intensify across all niches. However, this is all happening during a time of rising median salaries and business costs. Maintaining service quality at the prices your customers have come to expect is more challenging than ever before, with new margins often being inadequate for maintaining positive growth.
Streamlining your business operations can be a solution to this dilemma, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Filipino consumers greatly value service quality and any cuts that negatively impact this area can cause serious damage to your brand over the long term. Critically, the rise in median salaries also means that employee turnovers are now especially difficult to recover from.
Thankfully, it’s usually possible to optimize your business operations without impacting your service or increasing talent turnover. Let’s explore the strategies that Philippine-based startups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are employing to meet this challenging goal.
1.Find a Better Business BankingPartner
Your chosen SME business banking solutions can have a major impact on your running costs. Switching to a trusted online business banking provider like Maya Business can help you save cash by cutting the cost of your daily transactions. In addition to having zero maintaining balance and a generous 2.5% per annum interest rate, the Maya Business Deposit savings product also lets you save cash through free fund transfers via InstaPay and PESONet, effortlessly increasing your available funds.
Aside from business banking online, Maya Business also offers small businesses unlimited growth opportunities through other perks, like instant liquidity through the Maya Flexi Loan product. Businesses can borrow as much as PHP 2 million pesos, providing them with the funds needed to cover process improvements in difficult times.
2.Automate Routine Tasks
Investing in automation frees you and your employees from the drudgery of repetitive tasks, allowing time to be spent on value-added activities, customer satisfaction, and strategic initiatives. Importantly, automation also helps minimize human errors, reducing business costs while also avoiding potentially negative customer interactions.
3.Renegotiate Supplier Agreements
The recent developments in the economic climate may have affected your suppliers as well, which means some of them may be willing to cut you a better deal in exchange for a stronger commitment. Look through your invoices to find suppliers who might be willing to offer you better prices on important production inputs.
4.Offer Work-from-Home Arrangements
Reducing the number of people at your workplace can result in massive savings in your rent, utility, and software subscription expenses. Offering key individuals the privilege of working from home also saves them transportation and outside food costs, effectively giving them a salary increase and further increasing the odds that they will choose to stay with you.
5.Invest More in Your Employee Training and Development
This may seem counterintuitive but spending more on your employees can result in significant cost savings while also preventing turnovers and financial losses. Recent studies demonstrate that investing in employee development significantly slows down attrition rates while simultaneously increasing their utility to the business.
Well-trained employees can handle a wider variety of work situations, reducing your business’s dependence on higher-paid managers and specialists. They’re also likely to find greater purpose in their work, improving retention while also creating a positive impact on their ability to provide quality customer service.
Experience Small Business Banking that’s Trusted By Philippine-Based Businesses
With its high interest rate, zero maintaining balance, and free fund transfers via InstaPay and PESONet, Maya Business Deposit lets you enjoy the best digital business banking Philippines has to offer. Sign up for Maya Business today to take advantage of small business banking online solutions that will take your business further.
Signing up for Maya Business gives you access to a Maya Business Deposit account for facilitating your settlements. With Maya Business Deposit’s industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, your funds will grow 20-25x faster than in other competing savings products, earning an extra PHP 25,000 each year for every PHP 1 million deposit.
Signing up also puts you on track for a Maya Flexi Loan offer valued up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months—just what you need to effortlessly optimize your business operations. To increase your next loan offer, simply use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments.
Send in your completed Maya Business application to maximize your savings with a Maya Business Deposit account.
