For many of us, overhead costs can easily make or break our businesses. Rather than considering your overhead to be a fixed expense, you should consider innovative ways to reduce it. Luckily, we have five great ideas here on ways to reduce your overhead without sacrificing the quality of your company’s products or services.

1. Keep Cool

Heating and cooling are often seen as a required expense or ignored completely in places where the weather is more moderate. For example, in the UK ceiling fans might not seem like a big priority compared to indoor heaters, but both can prove useful throughout the year. Places like the UK that generally have cooler weather may never even think about ceiling fans, viewing them as something only used in hot climates.

Many business owners are surprised to discover that ceiling fans help to circulate air to make your current heating and cooling systems more effective. That means less time running the furnace or air conditioner which can equal impressive cost savings. While the fans save you money, their ability to more evenly distribute air reduces the uncomfortable hot and cold areas within your building, keeping everyone happy. Before doing this, businesses may want to get their heating and cooling systems looked at with services like One Hour Bros to check how they are running, any issues like a heating leak or broken thermostat can be sorted out before installing a ceiling fan.

Alternatively, investment in a sound indoor heating system has been shown to have a positive impact on output, morale and even staff turnover.

2. Telecommuting

We often think of working from home as a benefit for employees. In fact, for many businesses it can be a huge cost savings. Obviously, telecommuting won’t work for employees in many common jobs like restocking shelves where they need to be present in person. For other jobs, however, having employees working from home means you need to pay rent on less office space. Your electricity costs will also be lower since you won’t have to pay for the energy used by employees working remotely. Being able to operate more leanly means you won’t have to pay for as many desks, chairs, and other office supplies. Your telecommuting employees may even be expected to provide their own computers, saving you even more money.

3. Consolidating Shipping

Small changes in how you order from your supplier or ship to retail customers can make a significant difference. Grouping orders together could allow you to save money by shipping by pallet rather than individual shipping boxes. Many companies offer pallet shipping services, so it should be easy to find a company that can deliver your orders. Perhaps it’s worth looking for some trucking companies in NYC, for example. They should be able to ship a pallet for you.

4. Go Solar

Solar panels have become increasingly affordable, making them a great option even for smaller businesses. Mounting panels on your roof can dramatically reduce the amount of electricity you need to purchase. In some areas, the local utility will even buy any excess electricity you produce. This means that even though the solar panels only work during the day, they can reduce your electricity costs the rest of the time.

5. More Solar

Often people think only in terms of solar panels generating electricity. Another option is a solar system that heats water. This can be perfect for hotels or restaurants where a great deal of hot water is required. Because these types of systems don’t have to convert the heat to electricity and then use electricity to heat the water, they are more efficient when it comes to heating water.