I own a small electrical contracting business. You can just imagine the devastation we felt when the economy went belly up. It was so fast we were not prepared for what was happening. We were in total disbelief in what was going on around us.
Some projects we were scheduled to begin never started. Projects we were in the middle of came to a stop right in the middle. Businesses that were in the community for years were closing their doors. We never thought we would experience this kind of financial fall-out.
We had to go into survival mode. The same things we did when we started the company would be the same things that would save the company. Once we recognized that this situation was going to get worse before it gets better we had to react and change with the times.
Phone Service
The first thing we did was cut down on our phone service. This was a $450 dollar expense per month with the internet and business phone service that we no longer could afford. We chose
. Magic jack is $19.95 per year. It connects to my computer and high speed internet. It’s paid for the year and I don’t have to worry about it anymore until it’s time to renew. The reception is clear and I get unlimited local and long distance calls.
Fax
Instead of spending a fortune on paper and again paying for long distance usage for faxing I switched to
. My fax is $10 per month. With this internet option, there are different plans for the amount of faxes you send. The ten dollar plan was all I needed and I send a lot of faxes. This was a $100 savings for me compared to the traditional fax I was using. With My Fax, if I don’t need to print the fax I can just view and delete it. No more wasted paper. Your faxes are sent through your e-mail. I just scan what I need sent to my zip drive and attach it to my e-mail. You also get your own fax number for free. With this plan you also get a free 30 days to try out the product.
Internet
I had a package, or so I thought. My bill would always be $200 more than the package price. It was something about my usage, I would always go over. I got rid of the package and switched to Sprint. With
I can use up to five computers on my Wi-Fi service and the monthly unlimited fee is $79.95.
Office
We gave up our office and we are sharing a space with a friend. This cut both of our rental costs in half. We decided to pool together with the community so we all would stand a chance. In the community we all barter for services. We offer electrical services in return for plumbing. Everyone buys their own materials and we do the work for free.
