If you thought 2011 was tough, 2012 is not going to be easier. It might be worse. Many printers will be looking to save as much money as they can this year to stay in business. Cost cutting will be the standard but there are certain strategies that would help reduce outgoings.

While laying-off staff is a common method, it can be fraught with problems in managing the employees who remain. Another problem is that the company could be struggling if the recovery comes quickly, as recoveries do. And when that happens, there will be higher costs in training and getting the new ones up to speed.

There are different ways to contain labour costs without cutting staff.

When the economic crisis first hit, many professional services firms like accountants and lawyers chose the option of making staff work part-time. There are great savings by getting people to cut their schedules by only one or two days a week. It also saves their jobs, particularly after you have invested in them. It ensures the brainpower in the organisation is still there and helps maintain employee morale. Getting employees to job share is another option. This, in effect, allows the business to reduce the number of jobs in an area while retaining full time coverage. In a job-sharing situation, two people work part-time hours in what is effectively one full-time position and by communicating with each other, there is seamless coverage of the job.

Cracking down on leave and enforcing compulsory leave are also common methods used to cut costs.

The beginning of the year is always the standard time to approach suppliers about getting a better deal. If they won’t do it, shop around.

Consultants say it is worth taking your mindset back to the start-up phase when you were setting up the business and watching costs carefully. It takes you back to the time when you were eliminating unnecessary costs, which is a good place to be in this uncertain economic climate. It would mean looking at the budget with new eyes to work out exactly what you can afford and, more importantly, what you can afford to cut. Make a list of all your current outgoings, and then working out which are absolutely necessary. You can then slash the excesses, while at the same time, making you are sure not hurting the business.

Another obvious way to trim costs is to look at going online (admittedly a painful idea for some print companies). Cut paper costs by putting expense reports and other forms online. E-payment, for example, will allow you to send out invoices, pay suppliers and receive payments from customers at a good rate, without having to spend as much on paper and bookkeeping.

Some businesses cut costs by getting rid of unnecessary and outdated technology. How necessary, for example, is it to have a fax machine and all the paper costs that come with it? It can be replaced by a document scanner and imaging software. Documents can be scanned, converted into a digital form and then emailed.

Reducing energy bills is another good way to trim budget. Installing energy-efficient appliances and getting everyone in the business to adopt saving techniques as simple as switching off lights and computers is an effective way to keep a lid on costs.

Instead of buying equipment, you can enter leasing arrangements, which are cheaper in the long run and are more tax effective. Alternatively, there is always secondhand and refurbished equipment.

It is important to look at all alternatives at the moment. The cost cutting pressures will build this year.

Leon Gettler is a senior business journalist who writes for a range of leading newspapers and journals

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