As if times aren't hard enough for start up businesses, we now hear that the UK's small businesses are paying up to three times as much for goods and services than big businesses who enjoy large savings from their favoured suppliers. Research by Huddlebuy.co.uk has shown that small businesses are paying £3.6 billion more which, for start ups, equates to £1,200 per employee. With so many SMEs struggling this is clearly an unfair cost that actually threatens the idea of an enterprise led economic recovery.

While many sole traders may think they are saving money by carrying out their own bookkeeping, research carried out by Unbiased.co.uk has shown over half might actually be missing out on tax savings because they are not using professional accountants for their bookkeeping. Of those surveyed, just over half admitted to doing their own accounts and a fifth of micro-businesses (which consist of 1-9 employees) were also taking a DIY approach to bookkeeping. Clearly it is a risky route to take, especially with the HMRC crackdown on poor small business accounting, which could land business owners with a hefty fine.

Do you really know what your employees are doing when they should be working? Surfing the net, up-dating their social networking status or perhaps, worst of all, looking for another job - while you are paying them to do their current job! Job recruitment site, Monster, reports that over 25% of employees spend three hours of their working week actually looking for a new job. Worse still, 50% of those surveyed said they had up-dated their CV and applied for jobs during work time. Spread across the entire UK workforce this means over 14 million lost hours equalling over £250 million a week. So, a contented workforce means saving money, and you can't argue with the business sense of that.

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Send invoices immediately - Why wait until the end of the month to send invoices when you can invoice as soon as a job is completed. If you wait 15 days to invoice you've already lost 15 days when you could have had the money in your account. Businesses need to be paid as soon as possible, so why wait unnecessarily.

Using online software – The benefit of online software to send invoices is that you can invoice your customers when ever and where ever. In addition, you have the security that all your invoicing information is safe and secure.

Provide a detailed description - All invoices provide a field to write a description of the work you are invoicing for. Not only does fully completing this give customers a feeling of value for money, but it can prevent payment disputes - whether to simply delay payment or due to confusion over what is being invoiced for.

The extensive benefits of outsourcing, as shown by Paper Mountain Solutions, include access to expert knowledge that your own business does not have, plus the undeniable cost savings that can be made by choosing to outsource particular aspects of your business. To get the best out of your outsourcing partnership, though, you need to think of your outsourcing provider as simply an extension of your existing business. There are simple steps to take in order to create a mutually beneficial relationship with your outsourcing business.

1. Unsurprisingly communication is key, something Paper Mountain Solutions believes strongly in. It's imperative that your outsourcing provider fully understands your business plan and is kept fully up-to-date with changes and developments within your business. The flow of information, both ways, will ensure both sides are achieving the best possible results.