Are You Wasting Money? How to Cut Costs Without Hurting Growth
Let’s be honest—most business owners don’t start their day excited to dive into their expenses.
But here’s the thing: those “boring” line items might be quietly eating away at your cash flow.
And if you’re like many of the business owners I work with, you’re not being reckless—you’re just busy. You’re growing. You’re focused on serving clients and building your team. But somewhere along the way, your expenses grew faster than your revenue.
Sound familiar?
If your cash feels tight but revenue looks good on paper, it’s time to take a closer look at overhead.
Here’s how to start cutting waste without sacrificing the growth you’ve worked so hard for:
1. Know Your Numbers
Before you cut anything, you’ve got to know what you’re working with.
Start with your P&L (Profit & Loss Statement)
Look at your P&L and identify which expenses fall under “overhead.” These are costs that aren’t directly tied to producing your product or service—think rent, software, insurance, admin salaries, subscriptions, etc.
Run a quarter over quarter or year over year comparison to get a good view of what has changed. Don’t know where to find this information? Ask your bookkeeper or CPA.
👉 Action Step: Highlight any category that’s growing faster than revenue. That’s your first red flag.
2. Evaluate ROI (Return on Investment)
Not all overhead is bad. Some of it helps you scale. The key is to measure what’s giving you a return.
For each item you highlighted in step one, ask yourself:
- Is this expense saving me time?
- Is it helping me increase revenue?
- Is it supporting client experience or team performance?
👉 Action Step: Rank your top 10 overhead costs by ROI. You might be surprised what’s not pulling its weight. Look at the bottom of the list and determine areas you can trim.
3. Audit Your Subscriptions (yes, all of them)
This one is easy to ignore—but software and tools often auto-renew and pile up fast. We like to sign up for stuff and then forget about it until it is too late.
Here’s what to do:
- List out every recurring subscription you have—make sure to include both monthly and annual subscriptions.
- Note whether you are actively using it or not.
- Determine if it overlaps with another tool you currently have, or if you could potentially replace it with a new, lower cost option.
👉 Action Step: Cancel or downgrade anything you’re not actively using or that overlaps with another tool.
4. Negotiate + Renegotiate
Vendors, landlords, service providers—many are open to negotiation, especially if you’ve been a loyal customer. One major lesson I learned from my mom is that the worst someone can say is no. But if you never ask, then you will never know what is possible.
👉 Action Step: Choose 2–3 large overhead expenses and ask:
- Can I get a discount for paying annually?
- Are there lower-tier plans that still meet my needs?
- What’s the cancellation policy—and is there a better alternative?
5. Don’t Let Payroll Get Bloated
This one’s sensitive, but important to call out as payroll is typically one of the largest expenses that businesses have.
As your business grows, it’s tempting to hire quickly. But sometimes roles overlap or responsibilities shift and inefficiencies creep in. Not only that, it can sometimes be hard to have those challenging conversations with employees who aren’t pulling their weight.
👉 Action Step: Review every team member’s core responsibilities and time usage. Look for gaps, duplication, or opportunities to streamline (and support!) their role.
💡 Pro tip: Make sure your team members are doing tasks that are a right fit for them. Employees who have roles aligned with their skills and doing the things they want to be doing will be more efficient and outperform their peers.
6. Use a Scorecard to Track Progress
Cutting costs isn’t a one-time task—it’s a system. Don’t go through this process just once and never do it again.
Create a monthly Overhead Scorecard that tracks:
- Key categories of spend
- Monthly trends
- Expense-to-revenue ratio
- Wins (what you cut or optimized)
👉 Action Step: Review this in your monthly CEO meeting—or with your CFO—to stay proactive, not reactive.
Final Thought: Cut With Purpose, Not Panic
The goal here isn’t to cut to the bone—it’s to create a lean, efficient business that grows with intention.
Because when overhead is under control, you regain breathing room.
✅ You gain flexibility.
✅ You increase profit.
✅ And you improve cash flow—not just this month, but consistently.
Want to take this a step further? 💡
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start gaining real control over your cash flow, grab my free 5-day email course: Master Your Business Cash Flow.
Inside, you’ll learn simple, practical strategies to:
✅ Identify where money is leaking
✅ Build smarter systems for steady cash flow
✅ Make confident, data-backed financial decisions
Once you’re on the list, feel free to reply with your questions—I’m always happy to help business owners take the stress out of cash flow and create the stability they need to grow.
