In the autumn, a press release arrived from MoreTh>n Business, the direct insurer which is part of the Royal and Sun Alliance Group. They had worked with Warwick Business School to calculate an inflation rate for small businesses. The Business Inflation Guide showed that in the second quarter of 2008, business inflation was running at 9.9% - more than double the consumer price index. At a time when we were seeing soaring prices for fuel and utilities and growing labour shortages, this made sense and I thought it a great initiative on the part of MoreTh>n to focus attention on this important issue.
The data for the 3rd quarter has just been published, showing only a slight decrease in the small business inflation rate, and of course cost control should be near the top of all small businesses agenda these days. It will be interesting to see how the business inflation rate moves over the next few months as fuel and utility prices start to trend downwards. But somehow, I think most small business owners will have other things on their minds at present - such as collecting their debts and keeping hold of their customers. How rapidly times change!