Every business owner wants to make as big a profit as possible. You need that cash to reinvest so that you can become even more successful. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for a lot of your cash to simply disappear on unexpected expenses. That is particularly the case if you buy raw materials from abroad or sell your products to other countries. In that situation, it is easy to waste some of your profits, when transferring money abroad. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to keep this cost under control. Here are our top tips:
- Shop around for the best deal
As with all things, shopping around to find the best deal is the first step. You can easily do that using a service like the one you can find at exiap.com. It is particularly useful for when you want to pay an overseas supplier for materials or their services. All you need to do is to select the currency, key in how much you want to send and to which country, then hit enter. You are then presented with a list of options, including the fees, exchange rate and how many days it will take. It is a fast way to narrow down your options and send money to wherever you want.
- Track the exchange rate
If you regularly need to change money, it is well-worth tracking the relevant exchange rates. That way when the rate drops, you can quickly check for the best deal and carry out your transaction. There are plenty of apps that will help you to do this. You may find that setting up a multi currency account will help you keep track of your various transactions and rates over time. This is ultimately going to help you keep control and fully understand what the rates are doing and likely to do in the future.
- Exchange larger amounts whenever possible
Often, if you exchange a large amount, you can negotiate a special deal. Even if a firm does not advertise that they do that, it is still worth asking. Often, they will say yes and do a deal just for you.
- Leverage being a loyal customer
If you end up exchanging or transferring money regularly with the same company find out whether they have a loyalty scheme. Some do, but a lot of those that don’t will periodically send out discount codes. Or, provide regular customers with slightly lower fees. But, if you want to receive notification of these offers, you will need to sign up for their emails.
- Consider switching to buying in your local currency
At least once a year sit down and review the transactions you are making in other currencies. Your aim here is to see if there is anything you can buy locally at a similar cost. Provided the price is low 11enough, you can switch to that supplier.
It is also worth asking your foreign suppliers whether you can pay them in your local currency, instead of theirs. Some firms will say yes. Particularly those who themselves buy products or materials from abroad. There is a fair chance that they will say yes. You can find out more about why this a good idea and how to do it, by clicking the link.
