Speaker/ Opposition 1

Mizanur Rahman

Before laying off employees, consider how much layoffs will cost the company in the long run.
On top of paying severance, alienating employees and risking litigation, the morale hit may hurt
productivity among survivors. Plus, when business improves, company will be saddled with the
cost of recruiting and training new employees.

1. Ask employees for ideas. Solicit suggestions from staff about how to cut costs and improve
productivity. Even if what you save doesnt meet your shortfall expectations, getting
employees involved can ease insecurity and promote solidarity.
2. Cut out the extras. Freeze additional hiring and cut bonuses, raises, unnecessary travel and
overtime. Postpone non-vital equipment upgrades. Nix office perks like bottled water and
seasonal office parties, or find cheaper alternatives.

3. Offer extra days of unpaid leave. Extra vacation time is something many employees will
find agreeable, even if its unpaid.

Speaker/ Opposition 02

Rafial M Seum
Your opinion 2 line

4. Exchange workers with other employers. Larger companies do this within their own
umbrella of subsidiaries. Smaller firms can choose partner companies or vendors. Ideally,
the host firm would pay employee salaries and get the use of a skill set like marketing that it
might not have on staff. The mutual benefits are a cross pollination of skills, retention of
employees and temporary wage relief.

5. Institute shorter work weeks. Reduce the number of hours employees work and
proportionally decrease pay. This can be a seasonal arrangement for slow periods.

6. Consider a virtual office. You can free up office space to rent or downsize by keeping
essential staff onsite and sending everybody else home to work remotely. Off the shelf
software packages can bridge the Internet divide by allowing managers to video-conference
with employees, or keep tabs on them.
 Speaker/ Opposition 03
Tanjena Mannan Mukta
Your opinion 2 line

7. Consider wage or benefit cuts. Such moves go over better when they start at the top. Some
experts say it can help pad the blow if senior management takes a bigger cut than the rest of
the company. You can also offer buyouts for employees with longer tenures.

8. Cut part-time staff and contractors. If it comes down to this, its legally easier and
cheaper to end their employment or rehire as necessary. Instead of using costly temps to fill
gaps, consider rehiring retired employees that already know your business practices.

9. Cut Hours Not Staff

Cutting hours is always preferable to cutting jobs or cutting salaries. Start by asking for
volunteers who would be willing to work one or two fewer days a week. Employees with
families or side projects may be quite happy to work less. Having their hours cut is more
attractive to staff if theyre also given the option of flexible scheduling.

Speaker/ Opposition 04
Rakib Akash
Your opinion 2 line

10. Voluntary Retirement

Give employees the option to retire early with reduced benefits.
11. The Future of Your Company
Take the time to look at every possible way of cutting overhead and unnecessary expenses.
Reducing costs while retaining skilled, loyal employees positions your company to withstand
economic downturns and enjoy large profits during the good years.

12. Practice smarter marketing not expensive marketing. For many years, marketing was a
pricey proposition. Advertising meant taking out expensive ad space in trade publications or
newspapers, or purchasing even more costly radio and TV time. But those days are gone.
Now, you can market your company much more effectively online than you ever could
before. A recent study by Hubspot suggests that by 2020, 85% of people will interact with
companies without ever speaking to another person. Online marketing also makes it possible
to close the loop and figure out which channels are converting to paying customers the best.
Most online marketing allow for setting small budgets and pausing campaigns in real-time.
Options include search engine Pay-Per-Click ads, social media ads, grassroots marketing in
message boards or forums, targeted public relations outreach and viral marketing.
 Speaker/ Opposition 05
Nishat Tasnim
Your opinion 2 line

13. Grow through partnerships, not advertising. In this day and age, small businesses are
working together more, knowing that they can be successful if they collaborate when theres
a fit. From sharing information to pooling your resources to save money on office supplies to
promoting each others businesses, owners are realizing that there truly is strength and
profit in numbers. Strategic partnerships will benefit your company in ways you might
never have imagined. The right partner can help you achieve scale in far less time for much
less money than traditional marketing might. Cutting costs in your small business isnt hard.
Its simply a matter of paying attention to details every day and thinking creatively when it
comes to business practices. Follow the tips in this article and youll be able to save
money and keep your valuable employees on your payroll at the same time.

14. Reduce inventory. One of the biggest mistakes that small business owners make is
purchasing too much inventory. Storing a warehouse full of product that you cant sell is a
killer on cash flow. Unsold inventory may also lead you to have to sell at a steep discount for
a loss, further crippling profits. Keep accurate historical records of your customers
purchases so you can better determine optimum inventory levels for the future. Factor in
seasonal effects to try and optimize even further. The ultimate goal is to have just enough
inventory to meet your customers demands and no more. Just in Time may sound like a
principle that only a Fortune 500 company can achieve, but even small businesses can reach
that goal with planning and analytics.

Opposition 06

Afsana Remee

Your opinion 2 line

Other Ways

As well as getting better value from employees, there are plenty of other ways to trim the fat and
survive until better times return. These include such measures as:

Leasing rather than buying business equipment thus turning depreciating assets into
operating costs and attracting tax incentives; cut down on electricity bills by installing
timers, motion sensors, and low-wattage bulbs on lights. Program thermostats to only
heat or cool during business hours.
 Renegotiating contracts looking for new suppliers and getting better deals from
existing suppliers;
Improving efficiency going paperless, switching to a VoIP phone system and generally
opting for technology that saves money and increases productivity;
Reducing energy consumption downsizing premises, and reducing heating, cooling
and lighting costs;
Focusing your marketing not cutting advertising altogether, but placing less emphasis
on long-term branding and more on short-term profit-making; or
Cutting expenses conference-calling wherever possible as opposed to flying staff
around for meetings and reducing expense accounts across the board.