The Rising Cost of Living and Your Business

Being a business owner at this time can be extremely difficult, as you have to think of your employees and their well-being while struggling with the rise of costs yourself.

We have put together a guide on how the rising cost of living may affect your business and what you could do to keep your company thriving during the cost of living crisis in 2022…

1. Be Supportive to Employees

With the current crisis spreading, your employees may be feeling very overwhelmed and one of the best things to offer is support. Making sure that your employees are not struggling heavily or having excess financial strains on them is key to ensuring happiness in the workplace and also maintaining motivation/productivity.

Organising wellbeing meetings, mental health courses or financial support sessions could be a great first step toward providing the support that people within your workplace may need. Teaching employees how to deal with financial stresses or worries can be extremely helpful if they are under pressure from the cost of living crisis.

2. Start Cutting Costs

Cutting unnecessary expenses can be highly beneficial for your business, not only during the cost of living crisis but overall. Undoubtedly, the crisis will affect your employees, but it’s important to think about your personal finance and your business to ensure that you can stay afloat.

Assess where your finances are going and if you don’t have one, hire an accountant (even if you are a small business) as they will be able to calculate your expenses and see where you may be able to save money.

If there are subscriptions that you are losing money to or routes you can take to cut costs, then do so.

3. Get Government Help

The government has introduced a couple of grant schemes which could help your business if it’s being affected by the cost of living crisis. During their spring budget, the government announced that it would increase the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000 as a way to tackle rising inflation. Meaning, that small firms will be able to claim up to £5,000 off their employer NIC payments, which is estimated to help over 50,000 small businesses.

Taking advantage of government grants and schemes will give your business extra money which you can invest in employee support, pay rises or improving your overall business.