Entrepreneurial skill lists favor broad traits over specific, learnable tasks, leadership, adaptability, vision, resilience. Reviewing a business’s utility contracts is exactly the kind of specific skill that gets left off these lists entirely, and it’s worth breaking into two distinct parts, gas and electricity, since treating them as a single combined task can mean missing meaningful savings on whichever utility ends up getting less attention during the review.
Why This Skill Rarely Makes the List
Skill lists tend to favor qualities that sound compelling and broadly applicable across any type of business. A gas and electricity contract review doesn’t sound particularly compelling as a headline skill, but it’s concrete, learnable within a single afternoon, and produces a measurable financial result on the very next billing cycle, unlike many of the softer traits that dominate these lists and take years of practice to genuinely develop.
Reviewing Electricity Through a Dedicated Broker
Comparing electricity rates through a service like Utility Bidder gives a business a clear, data-backed picture of whether its current supply contract reflects competitive market pricing, based on actual documented usage rather than assumption or guesswork about what a fair rate ought to look like for an operation of its size.
Why Gas Deserves Its Own Separate Check
Gas pricing moves independently of electricity pricing, which means a business gas contract needs its own dedicated comparison rather than being assumed fine simply because the electricity side was recently reviewed and found to be competitive. Businesses running heating or gas-powered equipment should treat this as a distinct task with its own periodic check, separate from any electricity-focused review already completed.
Why Growing Businesses Face Bigger Stakes
As a business scales, its gas and electricity usage grows along with it, often faster than anyone tracking the books actually realizes in the moment. Contracts negotiated for an earlier, smaller stage of the business often no longer reflect current needs on either utility, and the gap between what’s being paid and what’s genuinely available tends to widen the longer both contracts go unreviewed.
Treating Both as Core Operational Skills
Just as entrepreneurs are encouraged to build skills around vendor evaluation and new technology adoption, reviewing gas and electricity contracts separately deserves the same standing as a genuine core operational competency, not an afterthought handled inconsistently, or not handled at all until a bill finally seems unusually high one month.
FAQ
Why review gas and electricity as two separate tasks rather than one?
Because the two utilities are priced independently in the market, and a business gas contract can fall behind even when the electricity contract remains competitive, or the reverse can happen just as easily.
How much effort does each review actually take?
Relatively little, comparing current rates against the market for either utility can typically be completed in a short amount of time using information already on file.
Is this more relevant for growing businesses?
It matters at any stage, but growing businesses face particularly high stakes since usage on both utilities often outpaces contracts originally set up at a much smaller operational scale.
How often should both reviews happen?
At minimum annually for each utility, and whenever the business’s operations or usage change meaningfully.
