You may not agree to some of the suggestions here. In this dwindling economy, it’s imperative that companies take as much measures as possible to conserve cash. Some of them may not appear significant, but look at this way:  you could take one of your employee for lunch with $30, which should help build the morale. In other words, every penny counts!

Before you do anything, take an inventory of the situation and let your employees know about the real deal. Do not try to hide the obvious.

During these tiring conditions, employees look for leaders, not managers. CEOs should lead from the front. Always remember:

1. It takes more money and effort to fire and then hire people. You are better off holding on to them to the extent possible.
2. You don’t want your employees to bolt the moment the economy shows signs of recovery.
   

Ways to conserve cash:

1. Renegotiate any lease and monthly recurring items you have in place - office rent, printers, phones, etc.,
2. See if you can eliminate any of the monthly commitments by switching over to inexpensive (or even free) alternatives. For example, you probably don’t need to have hosted exchange solution for emails. Can you live off of Gmail? This should save you anywhere from $100 to $500 easily on a monthly basis. Another example would be switching from mama-bell to VoIP providers. Better yet, use Skype to eliminate all your monthly phone bills.
3. Don’t not pay for conference call providers, there are plenty of free ones out there.
4. Migrating from WebEx to DimDim should save you some money.
5. Every company has at least few mediocre employees - let them go. But try to hang on to above average employees as much as possible.
6. Take a pay cut; this should start from the top. Every employee should know how much their CEO is making during tougher times. If not, it’s likely that your CEO is making boatload of money, and he/she does not want you to know about it. Be the first one to jump ship when the economy recovers.
7. Employees need good chair; we don’t want them to hurt their back. Any other furniture does not matter; go cheap on the furnitures. Better yet, you should not be spending on furniture and unnecessary items these days.
8. Cut back on the meal expenses. I did not mean eliminating them. Try to order inexpensive meals rather than gourmet stuff. In other words, pizza is still the best way to bond with the team and  show your commitment while keeping the costs down.

Points to remember:

1. 1. • • During these tiring conditions, employees look for leaders, not mere managers. CEOs should lead from the front, starting with their pay cuts.
        • Implement uniform cost cutting measures across the company. Don’t try to have different standards for non-management resources; you never want your employees to think that they got the raw end of the deal.