How Entrepreneur Save Thousands

How I Saved $12,000

Daniel Goetz, CEO, GoodPop, Austin

"To introduce GoodPops to new grocery stores around the country, we had to ship them samples—not a cheap task for a frozen dessert product, especially on our bare-bones startup budget. At first, we were shipping the pops overnight to keep them cold and ensure they arrived in good shape for buyers. An overnight shipment with dry ice costs $200, and that added up. So, we decided to ship all our samples via ground on Mondays packed with extra dry ice. Thus, we saved $12,000 last year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $60,000

Daniel Guigui, principal, Down Décor, Cincinnati, Ohio

"We’d been in our building for years and weren’t looking to move, but a real-estate investor made an offer on it that we couldn’t refuse. We’re glad he did, because we quickly found a bank-owned property that was newer than our old facility anyway—and cheap. Between the money we made on the sale and the low cost of the new building, we could rebuild our plant with new, more efficient machinery. And after a year of running our new equipment in the new building—which isn’t drafty like our old one—we found that our annual utility bills dropped by $60,000. We saved $10,000 in one winter month alone!" —as told to Grant Davis 

How I Saved $9,000

Peter Spenuzza, CEO of Rise Bar, Irvine, Calif. 

"One of our employees was concerned about the stability and security of our main computer system, which we use to enter and ship orders. So, she worked through her professional network to find a highly recommended company that could scale with us, offered us better service and more security—and was $6,000 a year cheaper than our current provider. We switched, and business picked up. Inspired, we then considered ways to cut shipping costs, and switched to the U.S. Postal Service. In the first four months with them, we saved more than $3,000." —As told to Grant Davis 

How I Saved $16,000

David Maurice and Natalie Lam, Cofounders of The Foxgrove, Brooklyn, N.Y.

"We’re an electronic music and DJ school, and we dreamed of setting up two large, gorgeous tables made of walnut or oak—a simple, beautiful space where musicians can create. But, whoa, wood is expensive! Two six-person tables would cost us $20,000. As we considered other options, we stumbled upon a pile of 100-year-old white cedar on our block. It was salvaged from a discarded water tower and headed for the landfill. We asked if we could take it, then we found a carpenter to fashion it into the tables…for only $4,000." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $113,000

Andy Wexler, CEO of Pali Mountain, Running Springs, Calif.

"We run extreme-sports summer camps, outdoor education programs and conferences—and have very low insurance claims. So, three years ago, we joined a casualty insurance group. It’s a bunch of companies with low workers-compensation and auto-insurance losses that band together to insure themselves. Our insurance policy cost is still about the same, but now unused loss funds are eventually returned—with interest! That cash adds up fast." —As told to Grant Davis