Coping With Unexpected Expenses : Small Business Advice

Running a small business, whether you have your own cafe, boutique clothing store, repair shop, or florist, is not always easy. There’s lots to consider and plan for, and with a small team this can create a number of jobs for one or two people to juggle. One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is managing finances and keeping on top of this. 

When it comes to managing business expenses like water, electricity, and gas, it is important to plan and prepare for increases and unexpected bills. Not only will this allow you to budget and avoid nasty surprises, you will be preventing these unexpected expenses from creating any damaging holes in the company wallet.

Why might you incur an unexpected expense? 

Unexpected expenses can come from just about anything and anyone. Business expenses are guaranteed and are required to be paid in order to keep your business running. Although expenses like rent and business insurance are important, in this blog we are focusing on business utilities, which includes bills like energy and water. 

Despite paying monthly for your business energy, it is not uncommon for business energy bills to rise and fall. The same can also be said for water bills. When your demand and usage for electricity, gas, and water increases, so too do your bills. 

During uncertain times, such as a cost of living crisis or the global energy crisis that occurred between 2021-2023, energy costs can and will quickly change. Your business energy rates are therefore subject to change unexpectedly. Although business energy suppliers will give you some notice, market changes can happen overnight and may require a big increase to your monthly payments. Having some awareness of the risks that the market can pose on your expenses is important for ensuring you have some money put aside in case of such events.

Monitoring your small business energy charges 

Monitoring your small business energy charges is important for a number of reasons:

• It can help you to identify areas where you can reduce your energy consumption, which can save you money on your bills.
• It can help you to identify any unusual spikes in your energy usage, which could be indicative of a problem with your equipment or infrastructure.
• It can help you to track your energy consumption over time, which can help you to set realistic energy efficiency targets.

There are a number of ways to monitor your small business energy charges. One simple way is to keep track of your energy bills over time. This will give you a good idea of how much energy you are using and how much it is costing you.

Another way to monitor your energy usage is to install a smart meter. Smart meters are devices that track your energy consumption in real time. They can be installed on your electricity and gas meters, and will provide you with a detailed breakdown of your energy usage by appliance or area of your business. This information can be particularly useful in helping you identify specific areas of your business where you may be able to cut down on energy usage and lower your energy costs overall. 

Government support for small businesses

While there are options for small businesses to help tackle unexpected costs, the UK government also offer a number of services and schemes to support small businesses. For example, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme which is currently running until April 2024. We have provided further information about applying for the scheme and the support offered on our blog.