Business energy savings, the difference between profit or loss?
Saving money on essential overheads, such as energy, has always been an important issue for businesses, no more so than now! The current climate has created an environment where customers are coming to the market to review their business electricity and business gas costs. When considering your company’s position with it’s current supplier there are some important questions that have to be asked. Are we getting the best possible rates for our business electricity and business gas, or could we do better? What are the terms of your current contracts? Do you have to deal direct or can you find an intermediary who can negotiate better?
In the first instance, are you getting the best possible rate for your business electricity or business gas, the answer is not always that easy to find out. First, establish what you’re paying and to whom and on what tariff. It’s certainly worth searching online for business energy tariffs to see who’s charging what, but don’t treat these as ‘gospel’ as there is a lot of variants to take into account. This is where it is important to understand exactly what your commitment is under your current agreement, how long it’s for, and when it’s due for renewal.
Out of all these points knowing when your current business electricity or business gas contract is due for renewal, is probably the most important. “Why?” you may ask but quite often the major companies will roll you into a new contract without advising you and potentially this will be a higher tariff than you’re already on. This could easily be a fixed contract with no get out, leaving you and your business with even higher energy bills just as the weather’s getting colder and you need to maximise production!
Searching online for business electricity comparison sites could pay dividends as you will find a number of companies offering their services to manage and maintain your energy requirements. Check these companies out carefully to make sure they are not one of the larger utility companies operating under a different guise. If they’re not then you could find yourself in a position not only to reduce your energy bills, but someone will take care of the switch and ensure that you never miss a renewal again and who will always be looking out for your best interests.
These companies are often paid a fee or commission by the major corporations but because they manage so many smaller independent businesses they are able to negotiate excellent rates without passing any additional costs onto you the consumer. This ‘win win’ scenario helps the smaller companies and a lot of larger companies to manage their costs and ensure that they survive the economic downturn. Some of these companies have tailored themselves as consumer champions of the business energy market, believing that everyone should be entitled to clear, trustworthy and impartial advice about their business energy bills. Often with an in-house team of specialists they can assist customers with any information or queries they may have, though it is worth visiting their web site or calling them to see what they can offer – it could be time and money well spent that should return a cosy feeling of profitability.