How will your small business survive the Winter?

We're reviewing all elements of our business to ensure we are making slight adjustments wherever possible to reduce unnecessary spending without impacting the customer experience. Sometimes, that is reducing hours so that we can deploy staff during the most effective hours we operate. The benefit is that we also lower energy costs slightly by doing so. We're also reviewing equipment and ensuring that any new capital spending on equipment is planned with energy consumption in mind, balancing a lower price versus a more energy-efficient piece of equipment is more valuable now than ever. However, whilst cutting costs is sensible, investing in the right areas is also important: having a clear focus on what you want to look like on the other side of these more troubled economic times is key. At BEAR, we want to come out better than before, not a worn-out version of ourselves. This will be achieved by opening new sites, hiring people in our teams that are driven to move the business forward and finding new ways to innovate using what we have.

“Office-based businesses will undoubtedly see a rise in staff returning to the workplace as their employees look to curb their own rising energy costs. It’s a smart move from staff looking to save a few extra pennies each month, but it’s a decision that will be sure to put even more pressure on businesses. Not only does the absence of an energy price cap put those businesses in an incredibly vulnerable position, but there’s very little support available to rely on. To manage these costs on their own is an unrealistic reality and measures need to be taken to help businesses combat the costs. Over two thirds of the businesses we spoke to are calling on Liz Truss to introduce relief measures for SMEs. We're glad to see a £40 billion support package in the works and we hope an announcement on this is made quickly. Without this, many firms will be facing a very bleak winter.”

I work on my own so unless I'm working at a client's site I have no choice but to work from my home office. Also the majority of my training delivery is still online, so again I'm working from my home office. So my office energy bills are my home energy bills. I guess a jumper will become the new workwear. In terms of reducing my costs I'm resurrecting the approaches I had to take during lockdown when my work disappeared overnight. I regularly review where I spend money on business memberships and subscriptions, and I review where I spend my time and money networking. Some events I used to go to were great from a social perspective but rubbish from a work generation perspective. At the end of the day I’m running a business, so I need a return on the investment I make. I’ve stopped some memberships of groups that were mainly attended by people wanting to hand out as many business cards as possible. They’re paid to be there and do that, but they don’t want to know anything about you in return. I’ve also stopped going to most of the two-hour type of networking events I used to go to. They might only cost £20 each session, but they wipe out half a day by the time you’ve travelled there and back. I thought about what I could be doing more proactively with that time to build my business and move it forward. When I cost half a day of lost time at my actual charge rate it soon adds up to a significant number. In terms of support, I'd like to see more that recognises the vast majority of micro businesses are run from the business owner's home.