One thing that you shouldn’t be worrying about on top of everything else is how much it costs when your employees are communicating with suppliers, clients and each other – yet thousands of businesses across the UK are stuck with mobile phone contracts unbefitting the actual needs of the business. business tariff

Klaus Henke, Managing Director at Billmonitor explains that The UK’s leading mobile networks each offer thousands of tariff and bundle combinations, covering everything from basic call minutes and data allowances to international calls / roaming add-ons and 0845 bundles.

Even if you take the time to request two or three proposals in order to find the best fit, most businesses will still end up stuck in contracts unsuitable for their actual usage pattern.

This month, Ofcom released its latest study of the UK’s mobile phone usage. In the report it was revealed a total of 84.4 million mobile and tablet/data-only subscriptions are currently active with approximately 11.3 million classified as business connections.

The biggest problem for small and medium-sized businesses renewing their business mobile phone contract tends to be overestimating the actual usage of the majority of their employees’ mobile phones, while underestimating it for a small number of heavy users who are then accumulating huge out-of-allowance costs.

In order to combat the issue of unsuitable contracts, businesses need to wise up to the various tricks used by the mobile networks. While an advertising package may entice you into believing you have the best deal available, the truth is there will almost always be a better package from the same mobile network, even if it’s not easy to find.

Mobile networks want to upsell their services; it’s easy money for them to cast a reel containing an acceptable deal and have hundreds of bites, rather than promoting cheaper and possibly more suitable tariffs, that remain hidden.

With 71 per cent of small business owners stating they view mobile phones as being vital to their business, as cited in a 2015 FSB study, ensuring this financial outlay doesn’t transform into a monetary black hole can be the difference between profit and loss for SMEs.

The ability to alter contracts mid-term is generally limited to adding or removing bundles and add-ons, while the basic data and voice allowance can only be increased, but not reduced, with some networks being more flexible than others.

Of the various ways to save money on a mobile phone contract, the opportunity for many will only arise at time of renewal. This is the price many pay for falling for the networks’ clever marketing schemes.

When it comes down to it, communication is perhaps the most important aspect of business.  The relationships with suppliers, customers and between colleagues are what matters, and without the means to form these locally, nationally and globally in a timely manner, a business’s growth can be stunted.

Mobile phone networks will continue to play a vital role in this, but ensuring you’re not stuck with a mobile phone contract that’s dragging down your cash flow is paramount to early success.