Rising energy costs are impacting on small businesses

Starting up a business at any time is a difficult thing to do and comes fraught with a whole host of challenges. However, doing this during the middle of a global pandemic is even more difficult. One of the main problems that not only start up face but businesses of all sizes have to combat against is increasing costs. Pretty much all businesses out there, regardless of what products they are selling or services they are delivering require energy in order to operate. However, the current cost of energy is expensive and is only set to rise even further, meaning that all businesses have to work harder than ever before in order to keep their costs to a minimum.

The latest research shows that a large proportion of small businesses in the United Kingdom (UK) state that the fact that energy costs keep going up has had a negative impact on their ability to grow. These same businesses have recognised their need to improve how they use energy and so become more energy efficient.

Manufacturing industry

Large numbers of manufacturers in the UK are said to be increasingly affected by the rising costs of energy. A recent survey showed that around 62 percent of these manufacturing companies have openly stated that they have been impacted upon in a negative way because of the cost of energy becoming more expensive. Energy Procurement buyers and managers should therefore do what they can to help small businesses use energy in a more efficient way in the current climate of rising energy costs. 

To be able to become more energy efficient, small businesses need to become aware of the many alternatives that are available to them. One of these alternatives is using renewable energy supplies, such as solar panels or wind turbines, at the businesses premises in order to fund its energy usage. Doing this can help small businesses in particular to save on their energy bills, as well as, of course, minimizing their impact on the environment.

Switching supplier

It would also be wise for small businesses to commit some time and effort towards doing some research to see if they could source themselves a better, more equitable energy deal from a different supplier from the one that they currently have. 

Changing suppliers is not just something that is confined to domestic customers. In fact, small businesses can make significant cost savings by simply switching to a different energy deal that is better suited to how they use energy. The savings to be had from doing this are so significant for businesses of all sizes that the government launched the ‘Power to Switch’ campaign. This was specifically designed to encourage consumers of energy to change suppliers in order to get the deal that was best for them. 

With the cost of energy only ever going to increase, it is important then that small businesses do everything that they can to monitor how much energy that they use much more closely and with a greater level of scrutiny.