When we all realised the pandemic was going to seriously disrupt our working and personal lives it created a huge number of challenges, particularly for anyone running a business.

If you run a business what went through your mind?

Did you panic about the revenue coming into your business? You probably did because you were unsure how the spread of the illness and the government-initiated lockdown regulations were going to affect customers.

And with this drop off in revenue it probably became even more painful as the impact of regular bills, such as rent and business rates, staff salaries and energy became even more obvious.

So what did you do?

Successful small businesses we have spoken to adopted the response that many sports people do when they are in a tough situation: control the controllables and don’t waste your time with things out of your control.

The government’s furlough scheme helped many businesses with staff costs, many landlords were supportive about deferring rent and the suspension of business rates in many sectors also helped.

But that still left costs like energy bills – whether it is the heating or lighting of premises through to the running of machinery to make your products.

For many businesses prior to the pandemic they had not thought about the impact of energy bills and had not even budgeted accurately for their monthly usage, in fact they were not even aware of how much they were spending on this area.

Two entrepreneurs we spoke to who took a real grip on running costs when faced with the crisis of the pandemic are co-owners of a fabricated design company The Syrup Room, based in Bournemouth.

The business, which has a worldwide client base, is a relative high user of energy for its size so this regular running cost was something they needed to get a handle on.

They discuss in this video how they looked to manage the outgoings and the success they achieved cutting the energy bills by installing smart meters into their workshops.

>Read more: How to turn a crisis into an opportunity for small businesses – going green during the pandemic

For more information about the benefits of smart meters please visit Smart Energy GB or contact your energy supplier to see if you’re eligible. 

This article and video are part of a paid-for information campaign for Smart Energy GB.