What’s trimming your margins? There’s a good chance there are many factors. Changing prices, seasonality, time-consuming product hunts—can all shrink your margins. 

It’s normal to worry about margin, but you don’t always have control over what’s impacting it. The first thing to do to fix this problem is to focus on what you can control. If you’re stuck sourcing materials through manual searching with limited selection, this is a perfect place to start. 

Better sourcing enables better margins. Spend less time finding products with a sourcing model that uses a platform like LandscapeHub to help you quickly find what you need, compare prices, and place your orders. 

Technology changes the field

Technology disrupts every industry, including all aspects of the landscape supply chain, from designers and contractors to nurseries and growers. 

Many in the landscape business are still sourcing what they need the old-fashioned way. Whether it’s pen and paper invoices, multiple phone calls, in-person visits to your local sources, and cash payments, it can eat up most of an entire day to source what you need. 

With an inefficient process, you may find yourself willing to pay more to get plants. You may also be put in the position of substituting based on availability and budget. Or maybe you get caught in the challenge of having your request fulfilled. When pushed into a corner, you have to decide to spend more money or delay your projects. 

Technology enables you to get back in control with landscape material sourcing. It opens up more opportunities. You may find multiple sources of the flowers and plants needed, allowing you to compare pricing and get what you need when you need it.

The need for sourcing tools

Sourcing in many other industries has its own department, but many landscape companies don’t have the staff for this, and when they do, they are often swamped and looking for ways to do either job more efficiently. Most likely, it’s the responsibility of many different people who all wear multiple hats. 

Either way, with or without a dedicated procurement resource, you need tools to help you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to scale your operations. Using technology like LandscapeHub allows you to buy from multiple sources. It offers more automation and a more expansive view of the process without additional costs.

Easy procurement equal saved time

Do you consider your current procurement model easy? How many steps does it take? What does the workflow look like? If you’re running ad hoc on every project, then your margins are suffering. 

Imagine sourcing, quoting, and ordering on a marketplace, similar to how you might buy products from Amazon. You never have to look for an order form or a phone number. The technology that provides you access to multiple sources in one platform keeps everything in one spot. You get the best service and visibility across your sourcing activities. Using one platform helps at billing time as well. You’ll know what you bought, when and from where, quickly understanding the total material cost.

Expand your supplier network

The most significant factors limiting your ability to grow your business include too few suppliers, too little time, and tight budgets. All these things contribute to the pressure on your profit margins. You love what you do, but we need to make money in the process. 

Our technology allows you to log in, search for what you need, identify costs, and track delivery. When your pricing is clearly defined based on real-time inventory and data, your quote is more accurate. And that means your margins should be easier to forecast. 

You also don’t have to worry about quality since the suppliers listed on LandscapeHub are fully vetted. And delivery options allow for direct supplier pick-ups and other shipping solutions, allowing you to control costs and take one more thing off your list. Plus, all the shipping information is available on the platform.

When you use multiple suppliers and the latest technology, you can focus on growing your business, serving your customers, keeping costs down while gaining more visibility into how you source materials. 

Take a tour today of LandscapeHub. You’ll gain access to hundreds of suppliers, ready to offer you the plants and supplies you need. Spend less time looking for products. Try now for free, and explore what’s possible with more options materials.