Effective cost management

Effective Cost Management is a practical resource for CEOs, founders, and commercial leaders in established UK SMBs who want to improve profit and cash flow without damaging customer experience or slowing growth. These blogs focus on identifying and removing hidden waste-like duplicated work, inefficient handovers, and supplier contracts that don't deliver measurable value-so the business runs leaner, faster, and more effectively. Expect clear frameworks, real-world examples, and actionable ways

Cutting waste by reducing duplication and streamlining processes

Waste rarely looks like waste. When leaders think about cutting waste, they often picture obvious things: unused software, bloated overheads, expensive suppliers. But in most established small and mid-sized businesses, the biggest waste isn't a single line item. It's duplication . It's the same work being done more than once, in different places, for slightly different reasons: Two people chasing the same customer update. Three versions of the same report with different numb

Jo Hermon

6 min read

Cutting waste in third-party contracts by renegotiating for outcomes (or costs)

Supplier spend doesn't explode - it creeps. In most established SMBs, third-party spend grows quietly. A tool gets added to solve a short-term problem.An agency is hired to ‘buy time.’A supplier contract renews because nobody wants to deal with it this quarter.A retainer continues because ‘they know our business.’ None of that is irrational. Running a business is busy. Renewals and supplier reviews often feel like admin. But over time, the result is predictable: you start pay

Jo Hermon

5 min read