Archive for category Small Business

What a SME Should Consider When Choosing a Business Electricity Supplier

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) now have many more options when choosing suppliers of electricity than they had in the past. This means that SMEs have the potential to save significant amounts of money on electricity by shopping for the best price. Officers or executives should consider several factors when choosing a vendor of electricity for business.

Many vendors of electricity now offer contracts for a specific amount of time, such as one year or three years, in which the rates for electricity will not change for the length of the contract. A SME can save significant amounts of money with such a contract if rates for electricity rise generally while the contract is in effect. The SME will not see a rate increase, at least not until they must renew the contract.

SMEs can save money indirectly on electricity if the vendor of electricity offers convenient payment options, such as direct debit. Indirect savings are realised through such programs because a cheque does not need to be written and mailed, saving administrative costs. Some suppliers of business electricity offer discounts for using direct debit to pay electric bills.

Administrative costs associated with business electricity can often be reduced if the supplier of business electricity has personnel available to answer questions. Many SMEs find it convenient to have one person or a dedicated team to contact should issues or questions arise. Money and worry can be reduced if the staff at a SME know whom to contact during an outage or if they have questions about their contract. A single contact or dedicated team at a supplier of business electricity can also help a SME save energy usage costs by providing information on how to use energy more efficiently. They may recommend the use of smart meters so that energy usage can be precisely monitored and controlled.

SMEs that wish to project an image of being green or environmentally friendly may want to consider using a supplier of business electricity that does the same. Many such vendors can provide information on how they generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. They may also be willing to provide information on how their customers can use energy in a manner that treads more lightly on the Earth. Some SMEs have customers of their own that require demonstration or documentation of environmentally friendly manner. A SME that uses a supplier of business electricity that operates in an environmentally friendly manner will have an easier time providing such documentation.

Improve Employee Satisfaction by Increasing Organizational Commitment

We all know that a big red heart is the symbol of Valentine’s Day, and for this reason February is also American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men AND women, and ultimately your employees. Do you care about your employees? Yes, you do. However, any month is a great time to show your concern for your employees’ health by generating awareness about the risk of heart disease and also by helping your staff do a “little something about it”. But, why make the effort?

Numerous studies conclude that there is a significant relationship between Organizational Commitment to Employees (OCE) and company performance (eg. Muse, Rutherford, Oswald,and Raymond, Small Business Economics, Vol. 24, No. 2, Mar., 2005). OCE is defined by an organization’s actions toward and treatment of its employees including caring for their well-being. Not to get too technical, but briefly there is a positive correlation between return on assets, return on sales, and return on cashflow and OCE.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Dr. Martha Grogan of the Mayo Clinic which recently published Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life!. This book promotes an innovative yet very simple plan that could help your employees understand where to focus and how to make it easy for them to succeed in reducing their risk of heart disease by well over 50%.

First a couple of Questions (answers below).

  1. Which increases a person’s risk of heart disease more? A) smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, or B) sitting around all day, every day.
  2. How many hours per week does one need to walk briskly to reduce the risk of heart disease by 50%? A) 1 hour per week, B) 3 hours per week, or C) 5 hours per week.

Here’s the “little something about it”. The Mayo Clinic proposes this simple regimen: “Eat 5, Move 10, Sleep 8″. Per day, that’s eat 5 fruits and vegetables, move around for 10 minutes, and sleep 8 hours. Pretty easy. How can employers reinforce this program?

  1. Keep a bowl of fresh fruit and vegetables near the coffee or common area.
  2. Allow employees an extra 10-minute “walking” break.
  3. Schedule “walk-and-talk” meetings.
  4. Limit in-office e-mail; promote face-to-face discussions.
  5. Obtain a company discount at a local fitness center and/or provide partial reimbursement for club fees based on real-time usage.

What makes Mayo Clinic’s program ultimately more acceptable is that does not tell people what NOT to do such as the obvious (no smoking, maintain a healthy weight). Rather, this program highlights easy steps to better health that even the most sedentary of us can manage.

The research is conclusive. Employers have a wonderful opportunity to better motivate productivity and loyalty of workers by providing assistance and support for their physical as well as financial well-being.