In recent weeks many of us have given up training and all competitions as we know have been canceled. Such times. Fortunately, what we have in our achievements is ours and at least we can refer to our experiences from previous years.

I remember most of the half marathons I took part in, but a few of them in particular.

No training gives you such adrenaline as competition. THIS DAY! Often thousands of people at the start, supporters who warm up to the effort. It can't be compared to running alone. We feel high 😉

And this seemingly cool winding "something" can be dangerous, unfortunately. Exactly the feeling that pushed me to too ambitious pace was fatal to me. I finished the race, but as they say it was not crazy. The plans were ambitious: break off the next minutes, make a biography. Eh ... At other times the muscles seemed to refuse to obey, the thigh stiffened and the preparations lasted a few months. At least I didn't leave the route - I consoled myself at the end. It was true that I had to stop for a while, but I did not give up.

What does this actually have to do with our work, buying energy?

Actually quite a lot.

Let's start from the beginning!

If we are a good energy buyer and we have 3 most important skills, we already know what area we are moving in: we know the main players on the market, we regularly check market information and in the ideal case we work with an expert who plays the role of our trainer.

STRATEGY - just like in a race is another element needed to achieve the result.

The strategy must be adapted to the situation. After all, when we run, e.g. trail half-marathon, in the forest, in the mud, the strategy developed for running on asphalt will not work. These are completely different situations.

I remember at least a few discussions with clients about strategic topics when, diplomatically speaking, I had a separate opinion on key goals and means to implement the strategy. Fortunately, only in a few cases did the customer get his way. Yes, we have implemented this strategy. In my opinion, there was no success. But in the end learning by making mistakes usually works very well 😉

In some industries, buying energy means to be or not to be on the market. It's like with top players. Some are profesionals and this is their passion, but also a source of income.

It is similar in buying energy. There are companies for which an improperly determined cost of energy can make them lose their competitive position on the market.

There are also completely different "players" in this group more reminiscent of a cross-country amateur like me. Yes, the cost of energy is a significant expense, but even a drastic increase in the energy budget will not break down such a company.

It is worth first establishing your place on the energy market and determining our strategy of operation accordingly.

A strategy is a kind of map, timetable. There you will find a hint on how to best climb the mountain, but also how not to bump yourself when we are running sharply down.

This can be seen especially in the last 12 months. Who contracted 100% of the gas price for 2020 in the summer or even worse in the spring of 2019, unfortunately, this year he got a strong right from the market this year, because the wholesale price has fallen by half over the last 12 months! The strategy also suggests how to resolve issues related to the commitment to volumes. In the current situation of significant restrictions on production or complete slowdown, this is extremely important.

During the competition, I am always impressed by people commonly called "hares, or pace makers." Pacemaker is actually a guide that from the beginning imposes the pace and rhythm of the run. He or she knows how to distribute forces in given conditions to reach the finish in a given time. They divide the route into shorter sections and determine in advance what the pace should be at each of them so as not to catch their breathlessness.