How Entrepreneurs Save Thousand Daily

How I Saved $50,000

Larry Gadea, CEO of Envoy, San Francisco

"We make an iPad-based visitor log, so that people who arrive at an office can sign in easily. More than 2,000 companies use it, and many buy the dedicated iPad directly from us—and so, in turn, we make sure we’re buying all those iPads with our company credit card. With the mileage points we get, we’ve could book 10 international, $5,000 first-class flights to see clients in places such as the Persian Gulf since last year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $522,000

Michelle McAndrew, housing manager, RNnetwork

"As a travel nurse recruiter and placement firm, we find nurses their ideal jobs as well as good housing. We used to line up the housing ourselves, but now we use Travelers Haven, a short-term corporate housing provider with accommodations nationwide. The move saved us $305,000 in rent, which we were spending on empty apartments, and freed up more than $217,000 in cash flow by eliminating the need to pay security deposits." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $1 Million

Andy Fathollahi, founder and CEO, Incipio Technologies, Orange County, Calif.

"We design and manufacture accessories for smartphones and computers, and ship 11,000 different SKUs. Shipping costs were rising, so I analyzed the expenses with the firms that warehouse and send out our products. Then, armed with my data, I worked out a deal with UPS. The results were amazing. Even though our business grew 35 percent last year, we were still able to reduce our overall freight spend by 9 percent over the previous year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $65,000

Daron Horwitz, president, Daddies Board Shop, Portland, Ore.

“We sell skateboarding and snowboarding equipment, and to ensure delivery to our online customers, we shipped product ‘signature required’ via UPS. We thought we were providing good customer service, but it just annoyed our customers. So, we eliminated that requirement, lowering our delivery costs by $3.25 per order—a big deal on 20,000 orders!” —As told to Margaret Littman

How I Saved $450,000

Scott Slater, founder, Slater’s 50/50, Orange County, Calif.

“We’re a restaurant, and our core is burgers, bacon, and beer. We wanted to speed up our kitchen by simplifying our menu, so we went item by item, looking at sales and prep time and whether an ingredient only appeared on one dish. If it did, it was cut. The process took about three months, and in the first year after, we increased earnings by 7.5 percent.” —As told to Margaret Littman

How I Saved $205,200

Rachel Stelter, brand director, Winc, Los Angeles

“Wine-bottle necks are often covered in a wrap; the industry calls it a capsule. Capsules are made of polyethylene and aluminum, which is hard to recycle. They are also unnecessary for table wines that will be consumed relatively soon. So, starting in June this year, we got rid of those capsules on 90 percent of our wines, saving us $.04 to $.06 off the cost of each bottle.” —As told to Margaret Littman