Initiative · Problem
Reducing costs
Most costs have a reason. Some are just habit.
Lowering costs in a targeted way: diagnosis, purchasing, processes, automation, organisation and real estate, with tracked savings.
The situation
“Our costs are too high.”
Margins are shrinking, and the money has to come from somewhere. The obvious move is a cut across all departments, spread evenly and quickly agreed.
Yet often nobody knows exactly where the money goes. Contracts renew quietly, subscriptions keep running, office space sits half empty. And some work gets done twice because two teams don't know about each other.
On top of that come costs that appear on no invoice: rework, waiting times, meetings that decide nothing.
Where it often goes wrong.
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The same cut for everyone
Cutting by the lawnmower principle feels fair and often hits the wrong areas: sales, service, development. The savings come back later as lost revenue.
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Savings that live on slides
A better purchase price quickly makes it into the presentation. Whether it ever shows up in the accounts often goes unchecked.
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Moving costs instead of cutting them
Skimp on maintenance, and you pay for repairs later. The costs haven't gone, they've just moved to another column.
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Only the big items
Wages and rent stand out straight away. The many small orders placed without a framework agreement add up unnoticed.
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Smaller budget, same work
The budget shrinks, the processes stay. Fewer people now do the same work under more pressure, and soon the mistakes cost more than the cut saved.
Which disciplines work together here.
5 of 13 disciplines, one team, one point of contact. Every service has a clear role, and you decide which ones we take on.
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D04 Consulting
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Finds the biggest cost levers and tracks what each measure actually saves.
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Removes duplicate work, waiting times and rework from your processes.
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Checks which tasks should stay in-house, be pooled or be outsourced.
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D06 Procurement & Supply Chain
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Shows who buys what from whom at what price, and sets targets per category.
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Gets comparison quotes and renegotiates prices and terms.
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Routes small orders through framework agreements and catalogues instead of handling each one separately.
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D09 IT & Digital
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Automates routine work that costs hours today, such as reconciliations and data transfers.
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D11 Finance & Accounting
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Breaks costs down by cost centre and product and shows which products pay off.
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Frees up cash bound in stock, open receivables and long payment terms.
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D13 Real Estate & Facility Management
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Checks service charge statements and notice periods and shows which spaces are barely used.
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You decide the scope.
Sometimes a single cost block is enough: purchasing, rents or administration. Sometimes it takes a programme across the whole company, with evidence for every measure.
A cost diagnosis shows which fits. You can commission that on its own, too, and implement the results yourself.
Good questions. Straight answers.
Can you tell us upfront how much we'll save?
Not honestly. Before the diagnosis, any figure would be a guess, and guesses have a way of ending up in budgets.
After the diagnosis, you get a reasoned range for each measure. Tracking then shows, measure by measure, whether it's reached.
Is this already a restructuring?
No. Reducing costs assumes that the core business works and is simply too expensive to run.
If liquidity, financing or even the whole business model is at stake, that isn't enough. Then you need a programme that tackles costs, cash and organisation together. That's covered under Transformation and restructuring.
Won't quality suffer?
It mustn't. Before we cut costs, we agree what your customers can't do without: reliable delivery, availability, quality.
Savings come first where nobody but the accounts department notices.
Will you involve our controlling team?
Yes, closely. Your controlling team knows the figures best. We use its data, add to the analysis and hand over the tracking for your team to carry on without us.
Do you also lower freight and logistics costs?
Yes, usually as part of the whole supply chain. Freight rates, stock and returns are closely linked, so we look at them together.
The full approach is described under Optimising the supply chain.
Proof first. Contract second.
In the free Initiative Check, we listen for 45 minutes and ask the questions that usually only come up after the contract is signed. Then you get a short written assessment: what we see, how we would go about it and roughly what it would take.
No obligation. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Or write to us at hello@intoops.com.