The UK is currently going through a cost of living crisis. The crisis is being caused by a multitude of factors all coming together. The UK is experiencing extremely high inflation rates that are outstripping wage increases, meaning that everyday items are costing more but we as a population aren’t earning enough to make up the difference. This has been furthered by recent tax increases.

The UK has also seen gas and energy prices skyrocket to unprecedented levels. This culmination of events isn’t just affecting households and families, it is also affecting businesses. So how is each component of the cost of living crisis affecting businesses and how can Okappy help?

The word ‘inflation’ is enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine, business owner or not, especially as data from October 2022 showed inflation to be at a staggering 11.1%. Not only do business owners need to pay more for their stock, products and/or external services, but as inflation rises, employees will also expect their salaries to increase alongside the rising costs as their everyday lives get more expensive. Another increased cost for the company.

If your business’ main source of income is from trading internationally and UK inflation is higher than elsewhere, which it very much is right now, this can make your products/services much less competitive in the market. This means you would have to increase your prices to cover your costs, whilst your international competitors may keep their prices stable.

The rise in energy costs in 2022 has been nothing short of absurd. With the massively increased costs in gas and energy, businesses are having to pay thousands of pounds more a year just to open their doors.

Not only does this extra cost create an already tricky challenge for business owners, but this starts a domino effect of increases across the company, such as having to pay more for their supplies as their suppliers have to pay more for their gas and electricity. This then drives the business owners to charge their customers and clients more to cover their energy costs – it is all one vicious cycle

According to a recent survey, 85% of current office workers think that staying in the office is more appealing than working from home as the cost of living has made being at home more frequently more expensive. 45% of hybrid workers surveyed said that they plan on commuting into the office more frequently in an attempt to escape even higher energy bills this winter.

A further 15% said that they will work from the office throughout the winter with the same hope of escaping the huge costs. However, although many workers would like to come back to the office to ease the affect of the cost of living crisis, research suggests that 15% of offices could not handle having their whole team in the office. As working from home became so mainstream, many companies downsized to save money.

These are very uncertain times for a lot of businesses, spanning across multiple industries. It seems that price increases are hiding around every corner. Now more than ever, business owners need to be able to get the maximum out of every part of their business.

Using a connected field service management platform, like Okappy, can help businesses streamline processes whilst reducing expenditure. Okappy users are seeing an average saving of 4 hours per week per member of staff and 40% year-on-year growth.

If you would like to find out how Okappy’s field service management platform can benefit you and your business, get in touch with our team and book a demo today.