5 signs you're paying for software you don't need (and how to check, in 10 minutes)

You don't need me to tell you this one. You can do it yourself right now.

Small businesses end up with more software than they realise. Not because anyone decided to overspend, it just creeps up, one "sure, we'll try this" at a time. Here's how to check.

1. Pull up your bank statement and list every recurring charge that says "software," "SaaS," or a company name you don't recognise straight away. If you had to think for more than a second about what it does, that's your first flag.
2. For each one, ask: who actually logs in and uses this? If the honest answer is "nobody, really" or "I forgot we had that," you're paying for nothing.
3. Check for overlap. Do you have two tools that basically do the same job, one for invoicing that came with your accounting software, and a second invoicing tool you also pay for separately? This happens more than you'd think.
4. Look at what you're actually using versus what you're paying for. A lot of tools charge for tiers with features you've never opened.
5. Cancel one thing today. Not "review everything and make a plan," just pick the most obvious one and cancel it now, while you're looking at it. Momentum matters more than a perfect audit.

That's it. Ten minutes, and most businesses find at least one thing to cut.

If you go through this and you're not sure whether something's worth keeping, or you've got five tools and no idea if they're even talking to each other properly, that's the kind of thing I look at for people. But even if you never talk to me, that ten minutes is worth doing.