Issue #58 - The price is right? 💸
Does a falling inflation mean falling prices? | How to cut small business costs | Improve your staff's skills to level up your business | Stories with Clothes | Tunes | Words | More
🦾 GO
Will prices ever come back down? 📉
Welcome to Issue #58 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
Rising inflation is hitting us all hard. If you’ve had to put your prices up to deal with rising costs, then you’re far from alone. A British Chambers of Commerce survey of business managers found that most (92%) businesses felt under pressure to increase prices due to rising raw material costs. More than half (56%) were considering increasing prices to compensate for other costs, such as fuel and transportation.
But will prices drop if inflation falls? Probably not.
Falling inflation doesn't mean falling prices - once prices have risen, it's rare for them to ever come down again. Falling inflation just means that prices don't go up quite as quickly as they have been. Martin Lewis came up with a nice driving analogy to explain, saying: "It's a bit like the difference between a car's overall speed and its acceleration. If you slow the acceleration down, the car is still getting faster."
Wages need to keep up with inflation to lessen the impact of rising prices, but this isn't happening in many sectors. This is a big reason why there have been so many strikes over the last 12 months.
As a small business owner, this can feel like you're being hit on all sides - the cost of running your business is going up, and your staff need more money, but putting prices up could drive customers away.
But what if prices did drop? Then this could cause deflation, which comes with its own set of problems. While we would all currently benefit from falling energy prices and lower food prices, if prices drop across the board then this can put people off spending. Even though they have more spending power, they may delay buying in the hope that prices fall even further.
This can mean less income for employers, which can lead to job losses, higher interest rates and, eventually, recession. You can find out more on this, along with some reasons why inflation is so high, in our blog - What does the cost of living crisis mean for your small business?
📨 SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to The Backbone to get each fortnightly edition into your inbox at 7 am every other Friday. Perfect for a quick read at breakfast or on the commute.
🗞 READ
How to cut small business costs ✂
Working out ways to limit spending as a small business owner can be tricky, especially given how the cost of everything is going up. But even if bigger changes seem out of reach right now, there are small things you can do to reduce your costs and allow your business to thrive.
Improve your staff's skills to level up your business 🔼
As a small business owner, you may be looking at ways to boost business, attract more customers and reach your goals. But don’t overlook improving your staff skillset, as the stronger your team, the more likely you’ll be able to band together and run the business successfully.
Let's look at ways you can level up your staff's skillset and ensure everyone is performing to the best of their ability.
🗣 SHOUTOUT
#BionicBusinessStory - Stories with Clothes 👕
Bionic chatted to Abbey Booth who runs her own personal stylist business Stories With Clothes. We found out how she started, what inspires her and why she thinks it’s so vital to shop small now more than ever.
Bionic: Who is your main market at Stories With Clothes?
Abbey Booth: I work with so many different people. But a lot of my clients are female entrepreneurs who no longer need to wear dark corporate suits, they want something fashionable, clothes that help them stand out and not fade into the background.
B: Who has been your most rewarding client?
AB: One of my favourite clients has to be a lovely lady who came for a body and colour shape. She’d been told by her mother since she was a young child that she was ‘ugly’ and ‘fat’ and it stayed with her all her life. It was so impactful to have the opportunity to change someone’s outlook on themselves. It’s really rewarding and she left feeling more confident in herself!
B: If you could go back to the start of your business journey, is there anything you’d do differently?
AB: I would invest in branding a lot earlier than I did, working on my brand got me thinking about my business values but it’s only in the last few years I’ve realised the importance of it. I’m an expert in styling but not in marketing, so I wish I’d asked for outside help a lot earlier than I did rather than struggle on my own.
B: Why do you think it’s so important to shop small?
AB: I think there’s so much passion involved in your local community; you’re always going to get better service. Small businesses really care about the service they give you, plus they literally do a happy dance when you order! But I think it’s important because it really supports your own community.
B: Has the energy and cost of living crisis altered the way you run your business?
AB: The energy crisis has definitely changed the way I do things; I have a garden studio I love working in, but it can be expensive to heat. If I’m not going to be there, for example, if I’m out co-working- I make sure I turn the studio heating off. The crisis has made me much more aware of the cost of everything.
At first, I worried about how it would impact the customers, I thought that maybe I would lose clients. But I’m fortunate that the clients I have seem to see the value of what I do and can keep using me. I’ve actually had the busiest March I’ve ever had, which was surprising!
Click on the pic of Abbey below to read more of this customer story.
📩 JOIN
Get involved with our business community 🔊
Share your thoughts and tips to give other busy business owners a helping hand. Or ask a question to see if anyone can help you out.
📊 BUSINESS
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic - the business price comparison experts - compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
Bionic helped Hayley make the jump to a better electricity deal ⚡
🎧 LISTEN
Playlist 🎶
No playlist this week, but an entire back catalogue instead. We like to think we’ve got our finger on the pulse here at The Backbone, but we had no idea that De La Soul’s full discography was finally on Spotify until we were chatting with James Lomas, Chief Technology Officer at Bionic. We then found out from Glyn Britton, Chief Customer Officer, that they’d been on there for a while. We clearly need to up our game. If this is the first you’ve heard of it, or if De La Soul are new to you, dive right in.
Podcast 🎙
This week’s podcast recommendation comes from new starter Laura Court-Jones, who’s been drafted in to help us write all those useful guides on everything from business energy to business expenses. Presented by Steven Barlett, former CEO of Social Chain, 'The Diary Of A CEO' podcast interviews a range of well-known names with the simple mission of un-filtering success and giving you the knowledge you need to create the life you want.
👩🤝👩🏾 SHARE
If you love The Backbone (or even if you just quite like it) share it with someone who has equally great taste in email newsletters.
🏡 HOUSEKEEPING
Check your folders 📁
If The Backbone isn’t landing in your inbox every other Friday, please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If it isn’t in your spam folder, it may have been moved to another folder, like ‘Promotions’ or ‘Social’.
🚫 STOP
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small business bulletin 🤝🏻
Please leave a comment and let us know if there’s anything else we should be featuring.
And don’t forget to send this link to all your friends and get them to subscribe ✌🏻