A new survey taken by YouGov, commissioned by Opus Energy, has uncovered some interesting statistics about small businesses, such as how businesses in Britain are planning on tackling the current economic downturn.  For example, the survey shows how many firms are planning on cutting budgets on advertising and company travel to bring around an economic balance through the recession.

The YouGov survey uncovered how almost 40 per cent of small businesses around the country are planning on cutting their budgets when it comes to advertising in an attempt to cut costs and weather the economic storm.  Another 37 per cent of small businesses are stating that they are also looking at taking the same approach when it comes to business travel.

However, the survey also proved that IT was going to remain one of the safest industries as 25 per cent of small businesses claimed that they wouldn’t even think about making cut backs in their IT departments, making it the most secure sector within small businesses in the country.

Tea and biscuits follow safely behind the IT sector as the area which small British businesses would not cut in attempts to secure their economic stance.  A comfortable 16 per cent of small businesses have announced that they would not start cutting back on the tea, coffee and biscuit luxuries that they provide to their staff.

The operations director at Opus Energy, Andy Nash, claimed that he was surprised that other ways to cut costs were not on the tops of their priority lists, such as keeping an eye on utility costs.  “While some value can be had from trimming excess spending on business travel and advertising budgets, it is surprising that a review of utility bills does not appear higher up the list. Only 3% of small businesses said they would review their gas or electricity tariffs in order to make business savings.

“This widely overlooked area can provide vital savings for companies and make more of an impact on their bottom line than other areas. Indeed, Carbon Trust research shows that simply monitoring energy efficiency in the workplace could help companies save over 12% on their bills,” said Nash.

Small businesses have been struggling through the economic crisis and the Federation of Small Businesses has been announcing recently that almost 100 small businesses a day are being forced to close their doors and shut up shop simply due to the pressure that is being put on them by unwilling banks refusing to offer financial aid.

The survey questioned 536 owners and managers of small businesses who employ 50 people or less.  It would seem that instead of small businesses focusing on cutting the costs of advertising they should start taking a closer look at how their business works through their gas and electric supply.

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