Spend time preparing for the upcoming season and avoid the headaches and trouble in-season.
As a landscaper, you really need to look at your efforts through the eyes of a small business owner. Taking advantage of pre-season buying programs keeps items on the shelf for quick repairs and manages consumables. A little bit of attention spent is the difference between turning a profit on the year, growing your business, and standing out among competition.
Here is an example of the immediate financial impact of not having backup parts:
- Cost of new part and overnight shipping.
- Lost time spent diagnosing and physically repairing the issue.
- Lost revenue due to lost time. Your landscape crew is not cutting and earning; they are waiting.
True Cost of Downtime
- Customers who pay for a professional expect great work, no excuses. Landscaper says: “I broke a belt, I’ll return in 2 days.” Customer hears: “Call someone else who can get the job done right.”
- $6000 buys a nice enclosed trailer and huge billboard… that nobody sees when it is parked at the shop waiting for a repair.
- Failing to prepare says a lot about your business. Not having pride in your work is reflected through your employees and ultimately customers. If you don’t take your work, seriously neither will your customers. Eventually the phone stops ringing and you will never know how many sales you are missing. A reputation is the hardest thing to repair.
Take some time…
Look at what you spend on consumable items. Trimmer line, two-cycle fuel, air filters, oil filters, and blades are replaced based on hourly use so you can estimate your seasonal parts budget. If you only order as parts break, calculate your shipping cost and lost income during the down time. You will find that it costs more to order only when you need parts vs having the consumable parts on hand.
Once you know what you spend each season, take 20% of what you spend to place a bulk order next spring. Companies like ours, ProParts Direct, have the best buying programs in January and February to help jump start the season. You can also save by combining several smaller orders into one large order. Shipping charges on individual packages adds up quickly.
Knowing what you need makes it possible to take advantage of pre-season sales and bulk discounts. It’s the little steps that will help increase your bottom line and help your company grow.
For Parts visit our website www.propartsdirect.net