Managing the costs of the services you use in your business

One of the keys to running a successful business is keeping an eye on costs, the energy and telephony services that support your business are costs you cannot avoid, but with judicial management you can aim to reduce them by several hundred pounds a year. In simplistic terms, these costs are made up of the number of "units" you use, multiplied by the costs you pay for each unit.

If you can use these units efficiently, and buy them effectively, your overheads will come down and your profits will go up.

Think efficiency.

When was the last time you did a full "audit" of every room in your business? Every plug, every light bulb, every piece of electrical or cooking equipment and every radiator are burning energy and adding cost to your business. The first step is to understand how these costs build up, get to know you businesses energy overhead and use resources freely available to get a handle on them and start cutting them down.  

These web sites will give you a raft of ideas on how to cut your waste and still maintain the standards you and your customers expect. There are many more, but these give a flavour of how you can reduce energy usage and how you can get advice and help to save your business money and help the environment too.

• www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
• www.carbontrust.co.uk
• www.footprint-es.com

Spend effectively.

The second part of the equation is to get the best deal for services you use. If you could reduce the amount of energy you use by 10% AND reduce the cost of this energy by 10% you would knock 19% off the total cost of energy you use each year.

Take time to shop around; don't get tied into long term contracts and maintain your ability to switch suppliers if you can get a better deal. One option would be to join The Utility Warehouse Discount Club and buy all the services you need from one supplier. Not only could this reduce your costs, it could also provide a means to generate income from your customer base through introducing them to The Club. You could save 5% on the petrol and food you buy each month too.www.lowerhouseholdbills.com will give you the resource to do the price comparison yourself, check what you are currently being charged for energy and phone services and compare it to these and other suppliers. Make sure you chose the best deal for you and keep the flexibility to switch.

We all know how hard money is to earn, so lets not waste it. As a certain supermarket would say: "Every little helps"

For a brief energy saving guide from the Discount Club click here.