As a commercial energy customer juggling various financial costs, you’re constantly being urged to take charge of your own destiny and negotiate the best possible deal for your company’s needs.
Keeping costs down and running a tight ship is essential for any business looking to survive and enhance its prospects throughout the current economic downturn.
If you think your business energy tariffis too expensive, don’t delay in shopping around to see if costs can be reduced. Otherwise, you could find that your company is rolled over onto more expensive terms at the point of renewal.
A recent case study, conducted by the Daily Mail’s ‘This is Money’ team and published in January 2012, found that businesses who failed to act within the windows set-out by their suppliers could be subject to increases totalling more than 50 per cent.
Search for the best possible deal
It’s now easier than ever to counteract the effects of exponential price rises when renewing your business energy contract. There are a number of price comparison websites, such as Which? and uSwitch that can enable businesses to scour the market and offer advice on switching suppliers.
Reacting to the same report, Jonathan Elliot, the managing director of online comparison service Make It Cheaper, said: “Businesses sitting back and expecting their energy bills to come down because of the announced price cuts should think again. The best prices are only available to those who are proactive shopping around during their renewal window.”
Although the industry regulator Ofgem has promised to help business energy customers tackle rising costs and unscrupulous behaviour by providers, remaining energy savvy and regularly changing your supplier remains one of the only ways to get the best possible deal and encourage increased market competition.
‘Go Green’ to save money
In the short-term, making an active effort to ‘go green’ and become more energy conscious can have measurable benefits. With little to no investment, your business could save money on its bills.
Research conducted by environmental think-tank, the Carbon Trust, has been published with the results displaying the financial fillip provided by performing small actions for big returns.
Informing your employees about the positive aspects of saving energy and creating a plan for your whole company to embrace energy efficiency is another way you can reduce business energy costs.
For example, changes to behaviour such as ensuring lights are switched off overnight or outside of working hours might seem like an obvious way of saving money and improving your company’s green credentials but is your business performing similar simple acts?
In the fight to protect profits, make sure you’re doing everything you can to make sure you stay ahead of business energy price rises. Minimise the amount you pay for energy by searching for the best deal and become more energy conscious to reduce wastage and bills.
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