Out of the many expenses that a business must endure, the cost of utilities is a constant and inevitable one. Fortunately, it is possible to negotiate and get a decent enough deal from your business energy providers, as long as you know how to. To provide a bit of guidance to new business owners, here are four tips that could help you land the best business energy deal that you possibly can.
Compare Quotes from All Your Options
As a decision maker, you need an unbiased platform to ask for business energy quotes from the providers, so that the quotes can then be compared with each other in order to find the best possible rate.
Let’s take EDF as an example, which is one of the biggest British energy suppliers that offer scalable contracts for small businesses and even a 7% discount for companies who select direct debit as the payment option. While EDF does have a range of start-up friendly policies like that in place, comparison sites like Utility Bidder can help your business get additional discounts and benefits, which would give your start-up an edge in expense control over the competition.
Make Sure that You Don’t Sign Up for an Autorenewal
As good as your present energy deal maybe, there might be room for better rates next year. When you sign up for an auto-renewing contract, you lose out on that chance to negotiate again at the end of the contract. When an energy supplier knows that you have to stick with them for legal reasons, they have no reason anymore to let you negotiate.
On the other hand, if autorenewal is not in your contract and you have notified the energy provider well in advance (45 – 60 days or more) that you will not be continuing with the same terms, negotiation lines are now open again!
Don’t Ignore Credit Refunds: Keep Your Money with You
Most business energy suppliers have credit programs which let their clients get discounts on their utility bills, as long as they fulfil certain pre-set criteria.
This can also be a problem if you are not using up all your credits during the contract period. The clients might also be eligible to get a cash refund if they want, which you should in most situations.
By getting cash refunds instead of leaving your credits with the energy provider, you have once again opened up the negotiation lines even wider, since your present provider cannot hold those credit points against your decision to move to a different provider.
Why Are Some of Your Competitors Still Getting Better Deals?
A point to be noted here is that in spite of all your negotiations, it is possible that some competitors might be getting a better deal from the same provider. Disadvantageous as it is for start-ups, it’s not anything that should come as a surprise either.
If more established businesses are consuming more energy and have been in business with the particular provider for a long enough time, it only makes sense for them to give them special rates. You may in the future be able to get even better deals yourself, but as the leader of a new venture, the current goal should be to just focus on getting the best quote you can at this time.
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