There are lots of great reasons to have multiple sources for your products. A million things, big and small, can happen to compromise a single source. As a landscaping company, you probably already know the importance of having a network of trusted sources, but are you missing out on opportunity, time saving, and a chance for better margins by keeping your network closed?
Let’s look at why that's risky and how going from a couple of trusted sources to many can benefit your business.
Do you spend way too much time calling around or showing up at nurseries you frequent just to see what they have?
It’s great if you have a long relationship with a vendor. But, you may be pigeonholing yourself to only quote or recommend the plants they have. No matter what region you serve, there are a diverse array of plants. Don’t be limited by what your nearest nursery has.
Spending hours chasing down materials isn’t fun, and it’s certainly not efficient. So, while you may have many trusted sources you've built relationships with, it’s never a bad idea to have multiple back-ups.
Whether it’s pen and paper invoices, multiple phone calls, in-person visits to your local sources, and cash payments, the activities needed to source in a traditional way can eat up most of an entire day to source what you need.
Technology is disrupting every industry, and with that come significant time savings. Being able to quickly see a real-time snapshot of inventory from across the country, gives you the ability to spend more time on other aspects of your business, rather than chasing down plants.
Obviously, we're biased here, but with good reason! Using a platform like LandscapeHub with hundreds of vetted, trusted vendors benefits buyers in your ability to receive competitive, transparent pricing. We give you the ability to look beyond your own region to areas that could potentially offer you savings (even in cases where shipping fees apply).
If you can source more cost effectively, you can then deliver lower quotes and win more business. Your margins should actually rise as you continue to source better and faster.
If you have the comfort of knowing what kind of plants are available at that moment, you have the freedom to propose plants you wouldn’t have before when your options were more limited and weren't available in real-time.
When you are with a client in their space, you could actually pull up the inventory of a plant as you discuss options. Knowing what you can access rather easily gives you the opportunity to design more diverse landscapes.
Accessibility has long been the barer of innovation. When you are no longer limited, you can offer more options on how to turn outdoor areas into a perfect oasis.
So, now that you know about why you need multiple sources, it’s time to get started connecting with them. We offer an online marketplace that brings together supply and demand in one spot. Get started today.