Self-employed or business owner? We can save you money!

Many of us know the importance of shopping around and getting the best deal for our household bills and insurance premiums.

16:29 27 January 2013

But it's not just individuals and families that can benefit from doing this. If you're a business-owner or self-employed, you too can save money by simply taking a little time to compare deals.

Because running a business is a costly affair, you'll want to keep those costs to a minimum wherever possible. So whether you're looking for a new insurance deal, a better bank account or a cheaper energy tariff for your business premises, MoneySupermarket's comparison services can help you to find the right deal to suit you.

The savings made from using these services could be huge - in fact, simply switching your energy tariff could save you and your business as much as 30%, as we outline below.

So, over the next few weeks, we'll be guiding you through the various ways in which we can help you and your business save money.

 

Get the right insurance

 

Ensuring you have the correct type of insurance for your business is crucial. Which type of insurance policy you need will vary depending on the size and type of business you run, along with your insurance budget. But to give you an idea of what we'll be covering over the coming weeks, we've summarised four key areas of cover that MoneySupermarket offers below:

 

•    Public liability insurance: Offers cover to protect you against claims for compensation from visitors to your business who suffer an injury or whose property is damaged during their visit.

 

•    Employer's liability insurance: Offers cover to protect you if an employee is injured or becomes ill due to their work and seeks compensation.

 

•    Property insurance: Offers cover to protect your business building and the equipment in it.

 

•    Professional indemnity: Offers cover to protect you from claims made by unhappy clients after they acted on advice given by your company.

 

We'll be going through these insurance types in more detail, as well as further options, in this series. In the meantime, there's plenty of information on our business insurance pages.

 

 

Choose the best business account

 

We'll also be taking a closer look at business accounts. If you've set up a limited company you'll need to have a business bank account. And if you've got some extra cash to stash away, you'll want to consider a business savings account.

But simply opting for an account with your current bank could be a big mistake as it may not offer the best deal for you. Instead, just as it is with standard accounts, it's vital to shop around carefully. You can compare business bank accounts and savings options at a click of a mouse with our comparison service.

You can also use our business loans comparison centre if you're looking to borrow money to help grow your business further.

 
Save on your energy bills

 

With the Big Six energy suppliers having recently implemented price increases, many households are feeling the strain. But it's not just households that are suffering - businesses too will be under increased pressure.

Unlike domestic energy contracts, which are often rolling contracts with no end date, business energy contracts tend to run for a fixed period of say one, two or three years. But while this means many businesses won't immediately be affected by energy price hikes because they are locked in to a fixed-term, it does mean that when your contract comes to an end, you'll need to be proactive about setting up a new one.

If you fail to do this, you could be throwing money down the drain as your rollover rate is likely to be much higher than the price you paid before your contract finished. It therefore pays to shop around and find a cheaper tariff to switch to.

Of course, switching tariffs can often feel like a lot of hard work, so we've teamed up with Make It Cheaper to make the task a lot easier for you and help you to compare business electricity and gas prices across the market at a click of a button.

And the potential savings are not to be sniffed at. In fact, switching your energy to a cheaper tariff could save you and your business as much as 30%. Make It Cheaper says the average savings businesses made over 2011 came to £553.89 for electricity and £815.73 for gas. A saving of that size could significantly reduce your outgoings.

Using our comparison service will also help to ensure you choose an energy tariff that suits the needs of your particular company. Businesses tend to have different energy needs, so most business energy suppliers will tailor a quote to your company. Tariffs are available for small, medium and large businesses so there's something to suit everyone.

So, whether you work at home, run a small business, are a tradesman, shop owner or pub landlord, don't forget to keep an eye out for our upcoming series in your weekly MoreMoney email on how we can save you money and help boost your profitability.

Please note: Any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing. Click on a highlighted product and apply direct.