What's New

Power Up

Hidden energy costs can run to hundreds of millions of dollars a year, says Jeffrey Hart, head of expense management firm Cadence Network Inc. Frequently, companies don't know what they're paying for — one of Cadence's clients, for example, was paying monthly energy bills at a location that had shut down five years earlier. Hart suggests asking yourself these questions: Which sites incur the most expenses and why? What is our electricity rate and how can we reduce it? Are we sure that our utility, telecom, waste, and lease invoices are correct? Are we making the right purchasing decisions?

Online Optimism

If you run a small business, it's time to put in that high-speed Internet connection. Small business owners who buy business products on eBay are more likely than non-eBay users to expect their companies, number of offices and locations, and number of employees to expand, reports an ACNielsen survey. Eighty-two percent of the eBay surfers said the Internet had helped their businesses grow, and 78% reported that it had reduced their costs, compared to 57% and 45%, respectively, of non-eBay users.