It should go without saying that no entrepreneur wants his or her business to spend a penny more than it has to—especially during tough times. Yet most companies spend more—way more—than they need to, according to Ross Pinkerton, who heads up ERA Canada, an expense-reduction consultancy headquartered in Toronto.

“Most companies concentrate on revenue-generation, and rightly so,” says Pinkerton. “But because of a lack of time, resources and internal expertise, cost-reduction becomes relegated to a lower priority.” What a shame: Pinkerton’s company regularly uncovers savings of 20% or more in overhead and indirect costs, the areas in which businesses typically overspend. And where do those savings go? Straight to the bottom line.

Fortunately, expense reduction need not take much time, resources and internal expertise. In fact, there are many ways for businesses of any stripe to cut costs by simply putting employees' minds to it.

1. Make saving money a mantra. Many senior managers operate with loose purse strings, especially during a good economy—a habit that’s sure to cascade down through lower levels of the business. You can encourage managers to make cost cutting a priority by continually communicating its direct impact on the bottom line, making your managers part of profit-sharing program or bonusing them based on their ability to minimize spending. Just be sure they cut fat and not muscle.

2. Implement a cost-cutting week. Ask every employee to come up with three ways they can cut costs within their own jobs, departments or the company as a whole. Reward a few worthy employees for the value and creativity of their ideas.

3. Seek at least three bids on everything. Even low-end purchases merit shopping around. A supplier will usually match a competitor’s price and may often beat it.

4. Resist price increases. Most suppliers will charge what they think the market will bear. If that sounds fair, remember that most customers don’t push back for better deals. So be sure to question every price increase tabled by your suppliers, and don’t necessarily accept their explanation—often they’ll relent if they suspect you’ll take your business elsewhere.

5. Shed idle assets. Look at everything you own, including inventory, equipment and real estate, and then sell or lease out those not being used. Even if you sell inventory at a lower price, you could still come out ahead when you consider financing, insurance and warehousing costs.

6. Use your trade association’s affinity programs. Exploit any available discounts in areas from insurance and wireless services to hotels and rental cars; you could save 50% or more.

7. Take advantage of any discounts your suppliers offer. Among the easiest to access: the few percentage points off the regular price offered by countless companies in exchange for payment up front or upon receipt. — Ian Portsmouth, with files from Annette Bourdeau and Jennifer Myers