To cut costs, businesses are scrutinizing legal fees and Vampire' appliances

摘要

BELT TIGHTENING: In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it's deja vu all over again. The good news is that, since the last startling economic dip, many small businesses have had time to figure out some great ways to slim down without painful diets. We asked a number of entrepreneurs and business-school brains about their ideas for cost cutting. Among the selection of companies we contacted, which had an average of 41 employees and $7.9 million in revenue, we calculated their collective savings after expenses at $74,659 a year. That's enough to add a few bucks to their bottom line. And for readers who get similar results, it could be a 1.5 million percent return on investment on $4.99, the price of a U.S. newsstand copy of this magazine. (Subscribers do even better.)