201 GREAT IDEAS for Your SMALL BUSINESS, Third Edition

GREAT 44 IDEA: Lock Your Supply Cabinet

Profit-meister Barry Schimel shared this idea. If your office supply bill is skyrocketing, and the supply closet shelves are always empty, try locking the closet. Give the key to one responsible person, the office manager, or if that's not feasible, to a couple of managers or supervisors on different shifts. This way, no one can just root around for an armload of supplies. Add a sign-out sheet, too, to monitor who is taking what and when.

If employees balk at this, here's what to do: at the end of your next staff meeting send everyone back to their desks to collect all the pencils, pens, and markers under piles of paper or tucked into the backs of drawers. Have a group “show and tell.” Look in your backpack, ...