A ‘lack of time’ is costing the average small business £4,000 every year, according to a study of 500 SME owners and decision makers.
The research highlighted that not having enough time to focus on their expenditure is costing them nearly £350 each month on average. A small 9% even worry they are unnecessarily spending between £1,000 and £3,000 each month.
The survey revealed that 68% of small business owners haven’t changed their approach to managing expenditure for a significant amount of time.
If they had more time to review them, small business owners believe they could save money on energy costs (31%), insurance premiums (23%) and broadband (20%).
It highlighted that a quarter don’t have enough time to give energy bills their full attention, and 20% wish they had more capacity to focus on software and tech.
A lack of time claimed to create a ‘forget-to-cancel’ resulting in regular subscriptions rolling over. Another reason a quarter felt they had higher outgoings.
The research was commissioned by Smart Energy GB, which is working with Mowgli Street Food founder and TV presenter, Nisha Katona MBE to share The Accuracy P.L.A.N: Why It Pays To Know Your Bills a free resource to help small business owners navigate their way through their firm’s expenditure.
Nisha Katona stated: “Keeping a close eye on bills is critical to a business’s success. When I started my business, I had so much to juggle that I didn’t really put my mind to my energy usage but if I had, I could have saved so much more money.
“Getting smart meters installed in my restaurants helped me, and my team, to better understand our energy usage, which in turn has helped me change the way I run my operations, and have more control over our energy spend.”
Despite this, 89% are open to taking on a new approach, and 57% are embracing new technologies to manage business finances and enhance productivity.
But when it comes to keeping on top of business finances, key challenges for small business owners include being responsible for too many tasks (33%) and the volume of admin (31%).
A third also struggle to ensure employees follow a process to accurately track business spend.
Over time this anxiety takes a significant emotional toll for 41% of owners who have five or more sleepless nights on average a month, while 28% feel ‘stretched’ daily.
A third of owners believe a straightforward monthly process would help them manage business costs more effectively, while regular comparisons with other suppliers (33%) would enable them to secure the best deal.
Overall, four in 10 business owners cite energy bills as their top cost concern, yet nearly a quarter (22%) admit it’s been over a year since they last reviewed their business energy supplier.
Victoria Bacon, director at Smart Energy GB, commented: “The research highlights the time pressures and range of responsibilities small business owners have and also, their concerns, especially around managing their finances and running costs.
“One thing owners can do is get a smart meter installed, which can help them save both time and money. Smart meters send readings automatically to the energy supplier, putting an end to manual meter readings and estimated bills.
“The data smart meters provide can help owners identify where cost savings could be made and help them have more control over their business’ energy spend, which is good for cashflow and budgets.”
