The cost nobody puts on the spreadsheet
Every business owner knows what their energy, phone lines and insurance cost. Very few know what it costs them to buy those things.
Finding suppliers, chasing quotes, comparing them and negotiating takes hours. And those hours come from the most expensive person in the business: you.
Where the hours go
Sorting a single contract properly takes around 12 hours. Here’s a typical breakdown:
| Step | What it involves | Typical time (hours) |
|---|---|---|
| Finding suppliers | Researching who serves your area and sector | 2–3 |
| Chasing quotes | Calls, emails, follow-ups, sending bills over | 3–4 |
| Comparing like for like | Unpicking tariffs, terms, fees and small print | 2–3 |
| Negotiating | Pushing back on price and terms | 2 |
| Paperwork and switching | Contracts, notice periods, setup | 2 |
| Total | around 12 |
These figures are illustrative. Complex contracts, like multi-site energy or telecoms, often take far longer.
Putting a price on your time
At £75 an hour, one contract costs you £900 of your own time before you’ve saved a penny.
Most businesses have at least six key contracts: energy, telecoms, mobiles, insurance, waste and card payments. That’s over 70 hours, or more than £5,000 of your time, every renewal cycle.
Try it with your own figures: hours per contract × number of contracts × your hourly rate. Most owners are surprised by the answer.
The real cost is what you’re not doing
Those hours aren’t just money. They’re time not spent winning clients, leading your team or planning your next move.
There’s a second hidden cost too. When procurement is squeezed into a busy week, corners get cut. Owners take the first reasonable quote, skip the small print or let contracts roll over because there’s no time to tender. That’s how businesses end up overpaying for years without realising.
A better way: hand it over
This is exactly what we do. We find the suppliers, gather the quotes, compare them like for like and negotiate the best deal on your behalf.
Think of it as having your own fractional procurement manager. You get senior buying expertise for a few days a month, without the cost of a full-time hire. We work as part of your team, take ownership of your contracts and scale up or down as your business needs.
You get the savings without losing the hours. You also get someone tracking your renewal dates, so nothing rolls over unnoticed again.
So, what’s your hourly rate? And how many hours did your last contract renewal really take? If the answer makes you wince, get in touch and let us handle it.
Not sure what’s renewing, or when?
We’ll map every contract you have, with costs, end dates and notice periods, into one place. No obligation, and if nothing needs changing we’ll tell you that too.
Let’s have a proper chat
