At a recent Green Forum meeting in KZN, the topic of transport costs was raised, & what various members in the industry do or work when it comes to this issue.
Make no mistake, transport has become a huge issue in all of our businesses, & there seems to be no industry standard when it comes to this.
An example:
If a landscaper purchases a truck load of 1000 3L groundcovers at a rate of R5.00 each, & the transport cost is 10% of the load (Fairly industry standard it seems), then the cost incurred for transport is R500.00.
This seems fine, until the same landscaper buys 1000 3L groundcovers, that now have Plant Breeders Rights on them, & cost an extra say R5.00(Ficticious figure because maths is not my strongpoint!). This means that the plants now cost R10.00 each, & the transport cost is now suddenly DOUBLE!
The supplier has not incurred any other additional costs in the delivery of this material, but yet he stands to pocket an extra R500.00 for nothing! Surely this is not ethical?
Some suppliers work the cost of transport into the cost of their material, & offer a "free delivery". In some instances, they actually penalise themselves by being more expensive than some other suppliers who charge transport separate to the cost of the material.
We all have our favourite suppliers of products, & in some instances we may overlook the cost of material or transport, because we know we are getting good service, & are therefore prepared to pay a little more.
To say; "Ag it doesn't matter, because we just build the cost into the resale price of the product", or, "The client pays for it.", is in my opionion extremely shortsighted.
We as an industry need to look into this, as part of an industry standard, because if we don't, we will forever be wallowing in the "This industry is going to the dogs" camp, & roll over & play dead.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Helpful Computer Tools
Technology is moving at a rapid pace, & if you haven't already climbed on board, you had better be quick before it's too late!
While our industry remains in somewhat of a backwater, when it comes to embracing technology, more people are starting to use it in their daily business.
On the one side of the spectrum, there are folks, who myself included, were born with a mouse in one hand, & a flash drive in another, while on the far right hand side of the spectrum, there are those folks who see computers & technology as the devil incarnate!
Somewhere in the middle is the bulk of the people in this industry, who view it as a neccessary evil, & generally use it for E-Mail & accounts.
Over the next few posts, we'll be looking at a few new arrivals on the software scene, that have the ability to make life far simpler & more bearable, while at the same time making you more professional, as well as some hardware changes that we need to embrace in order to take full advantage of this technology.
In the meantime, have a look down the right hand side of the blog, & you will see two lists.
The one list has some links to design software, while the other list is a list of business tools, that I have found make your back office run a lot smoother, & save you time on your admin, freeing you up to do what it is that you do best.
While our industry remains in somewhat of a backwater, when it comes to embracing technology, more people are starting to use it in their daily business.
On the one side of the spectrum, there are folks, who myself included, were born with a mouse in one hand, & a flash drive in another, while on the far right hand side of the spectrum, there are those folks who see computers & technology as the devil incarnate!
Somewhere in the middle is the bulk of the people in this industry, who view it as a neccessary evil, & generally use it for E-Mail & accounts.
Over the next few posts, we'll be looking at a few new arrivals on the software scene, that have the ability to make life far simpler & more bearable, while at the same time making you more professional, as well as some hardware changes that we need to embrace in order to take full advantage of this technology.
In the meantime, have a look down the right hand side of the blog, & you will see two lists.
The one list has some links to design software, while the other list is a list of business tools, that I have found make your back office run a lot smoother, & save you time on your admin, freeing you up to do what it is that you do best.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Job Vacancy for Landscaper in Bahrain
A colleague of mine in Bahrain, is looking for a landscaper to work with them in Bahrain.
You can follow this link to see what the requirements are.
http://www.sali.co.za/source/content/job_kzn.asp
You can follow this link to see what the requirements are.
http://www.sali.co.za/source/content/job_kzn.asp
SURVEY
In an attempt to find out what, who & where we are in this industry, I have put together three surveys, that I ask you to have a look at.
The first survey, is aimed at nurseryman, who have either a wholesale nursery, retail nursery or both, & the other survey, is aimed at landscapers. The third survey, is for Allied trade, i.e. those folks who provide a service or product to the green industry, but in some instances, not exclusively.
In the surveys, we are trying to guage where the industry is at the moment, & to share some information amongst ourselves, in terms of what is important to our businesses & the industry as a whole.
There are a couple of questions relating to pricing in the nurseryman & landscapers surveys, which is where I feel that this industry is letting itself down & not charging enough for the services that they are performing.
It's difficult for any industry to start trying to set minimum prices for products, as they feel that folks are always going to undercut them, & in some cases, due to the low entrly point into this industry, this is going to happen.
So, rather than try to dictate to an industry, I thought, why don't we put together an anonymous survey, where people can answer a few very simple questions. (10 to be exact), which should take you no longer than 3 minutes, & from the answers that we can glean from there, share the answers with everyone.
I'm hoping that people will be able to start to see what others in their industry are charging/selling things for, & then see if they are in line with the general trend.
If as a landscaper, you are buying a groundcover for R5.00, & selling it on to a client for R6.00 & the average selling price planted into the ground is R10.00, you can't tell me, that everyone is not going to say; "Why am I selling it for so much less? Maybe I need to put my prices up?"
If we can get folks to start thinking like this, & start lifting our game by a groundswell of common knowledge, then everyone will benefit.
Have a look at the top right of the blog, & you will see the links for the surveys there.
The results will be published as soon as we have enough respondants.
The first survey, is aimed at nurseryman, who have either a wholesale nursery, retail nursery or both, & the other survey, is aimed at landscapers. The third survey, is for Allied trade, i.e. those folks who provide a service or product to the green industry, but in some instances, not exclusively.
In the surveys, we are trying to guage where the industry is at the moment, & to share some information amongst ourselves, in terms of what is important to our businesses & the industry as a whole.
There are a couple of questions relating to pricing in the nurseryman & landscapers surveys, which is where I feel that this industry is letting itself down & not charging enough for the services that they are performing.
It's difficult for any industry to start trying to set minimum prices for products, as they feel that folks are always going to undercut them, & in some cases, due to the low entrly point into this industry, this is going to happen.
So, rather than try to dictate to an industry, I thought, why don't we put together an anonymous survey, where people can answer a few very simple questions. (10 to be exact), which should take you no longer than 3 minutes, & from the answers that we can glean from there, share the answers with everyone.
I'm hoping that people will be able to start to see what others in their industry are charging/selling things for, & then see if they are in line with the general trend.
If as a landscaper, you are buying a groundcover for R5.00, & selling it on to a client for R6.00 & the average selling price planted into the ground is R10.00, you can't tell me, that everyone is not going to say; "Why am I selling it for so much less? Maybe I need to put my prices up?"
If we can get folks to start thinking like this, & start lifting our game by a groundswell of common knowledge, then everyone will benefit.
Have a look at the top right of the blog, & you will see the links for the surveys there.
The results will be published as soon as we have enough respondants.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Entry level to landscaping is too low
In the previous post, I spoke about the retail nursery struggling in the current economic climate, & the landscaping industry is suffering similar problems, of which one is economic.
We work in an industry, where a guy can decide he's going to get a bakkie, a few labourers with lawnmowers & brushcutters, & call himself a garden service.
This is all good & well, provided he or she sticks to mowing lawn & sweeping up leaves. Let's face it, it's a service & folks are prepared to pay money for that. The problem comes in, when that same garden service company is asked if they can do some landscaping.
Not wanting to disappoint the client, & perhaps seeing some dollar signs to compensate for the ridiculously low rate that they may already be charging, to appear to be competitive with the rest of the "rats & mice" (See previous post), they say: "Of course we can!", & then proceed to stuff it up completely, because they have no idea what they are doing.
This again brings our industry into disrepute, because we get lumbered with every other person out there who calls themselves a "landscaper", whether or not they have studied / qualified or successfully run a business for the last 20 years.
Perception is a funny thing, & once someone has a negative perception of an individual or for that matter an industry, it is incredibly hard to change that perception. A good perception or image, on the other hand, can be destroyed overnight if someone perceives what we have done, to not be right.
This is the reason why we have organizations like the South African Landscapers Institute, which were formed to try to bring a professional image to the industry, & they have done a great job for the most part.
Unfortunatley, it is not a prerequesit to conduct business as a landscaper in this country, so anyone can potentially call themselves a "landscaper", sometimes with disasterous consequences.
Fortunately the law of survival of the fittest, whittles some of them down, but the damage has already been done, & the industry is constantly on the back foot trying to justify themselves to the public at large.
As professionals in our industry, it is in our own best interest to support institutions like SALI, & to demand of those instutions methods to make the public aware of the advantages of using a professional, & the fact that should there be a problem, there is at least a certain amount of recourse for both the client & the landscaper.
We work in an industry, where a guy can decide he's going to get a bakkie, a few labourers with lawnmowers & brushcutters, & call himself a garden service.
This is all good & well, provided he or she sticks to mowing lawn & sweeping up leaves. Let's face it, it's a service & folks are prepared to pay money for that. The problem comes in, when that same garden service company is asked if they can do some landscaping.
Not wanting to disappoint the client, & perhaps seeing some dollar signs to compensate for the ridiculously low rate that they may already be charging, to appear to be competitive with the rest of the "rats & mice" (See previous post), they say: "Of course we can!", & then proceed to stuff it up completely, because they have no idea what they are doing.
This again brings our industry into disrepute, because we get lumbered with every other person out there who calls themselves a "landscaper", whether or not they have studied / qualified or successfully run a business for the last 20 years.
Perception is a funny thing, & once someone has a negative perception of an individual or for that matter an industry, it is incredibly hard to change that perception. A good perception or image, on the other hand, can be destroyed overnight if someone perceives what we have done, to not be right.
This is the reason why we have organizations like the South African Landscapers Institute, which were formed to try to bring a professional image to the industry, & they have done a great job for the most part.
Unfortunatley, it is not a prerequesit to conduct business as a landscaper in this country, so anyone can potentially call themselves a "landscaper", sometimes with disasterous consequences.
Fortunately the law of survival of the fittest, whittles some of them down, but the damage has already been done, & the industry is constantly on the back foot trying to justify themselves to the public at large.
As professionals in our industry, it is in our own best interest to support institutions like SALI, & to demand of those instutions methods to make the public aware of the advantages of using a professional, & the fact that should there be a problem, there is at least a certain amount of recourse for both the client & the landscaper.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Hard Times Ahead for Retail Nurseries?
Take a trip to anyone of your local retail nurseries, & chances are, that unless they have some sort of affiliate business attached to them, they are as dead as a bunch of Valentine's roses in March!
There will certainly be exceptions to the rule, but it seems to be the norn these days, & the only nurseries that appear to be doing well, & doing any form of trade during the week, are the larger retail nurseries, & those that are attached to one of the major DIY chainstores around the country.
Are we seeing the death of the independant nursery? (i.e. not connected to any other business)
Is it only the bigger guys, that have the financial clout to see them through the tougher quiter months like over winter, that are going to be at the front of the nursery industry?
I for one think that this may be the case, but I feel that in some instances, they are sacrificing customer service & definately product knowledge for the sake of the bottom line.
I have recently seen a major retail chain (with a tree for a logo ironically), start selling all sorts of shrubs & groundcovers at one of their larger stores, with absolutely no one around to give folks advise on the material, & none of the material has any care labels on them.
I was also blown away by the prices that they were charging, & wondered if the grower supplying them was going to be in business the next week. I could have bought a 1.2M tall Trachylospermum creeper, which was about 60cm wide (bushy), in a 10L bag, for R49.00!
The problem with our game, is that we don't sell many products that you can just take off the shelf, take it home & install it.
In the case of plants, you have to know whether the plant you buy can go in the sun, in the shade, what type of soil, how much water etc, & unless you know what you are doing, or you are an avid gardener, you rely very heavily on the advise that you are given, or that you ask for, & if that is not forthcoming or wrong, then the knock on effects can be huge.
Although we sell products, this industry is or should be very customer service driven. The two go hand in hand, & if one is missing, this spells disaster.
The industry sells what some would consider to be luxury items, by which I mean that we do not sell items that are generally essential to survive. (Like foodstuffs). We compete for the entertainment or relaxation rand, i.e. money that folks spend AFTER they have made the neccessary monthly purchases, & with the change in interest rates & climbing fuel prices, is becoming less & less, & unless certain businesses diversify, they cannot survive exclusively on a "Flower & Compost" rand.
I'm also of the opinion, that there are too many "Rats & Mice" wholesale growers out there, who have either been forced into, or who have seen growing plants as easy money, & it is the proliferation of these growers, that has prevented the industry from increasing prices in line with other industries.
The industry needs to share information with each other, & prevent a price war in trying to compete with the smaller individuals. They should rather be concentrating on providing a quality product at a reasonable rate, backed up by superior service.
There will certainly be exceptions to the rule, but it seems to be the norn these days, & the only nurseries that appear to be doing well, & doing any form of trade during the week, are the larger retail nurseries, & those that are attached to one of the major DIY chainstores around the country.
Are we seeing the death of the independant nursery? (i.e. not connected to any other business)
Is it only the bigger guys, that have the financial clout to see them through the tougher quiter months like over winter, that are going to be at the front of the nursery industry?
I for one think that this may be the case, but I feel that in some instances, they are sacrificing customer service & definately product knowledge for the sake of the bottom line.
I have recently seen a major retail chain (with a tree for a logo ironically), start selling all sorts of shrubs & groundcovers at one of their larger stores, with absolutely no one around to give folks advise on the material, & none of the material has any care labels on them.
I was also blown away by the prices that they were charging, & wondered if the grower supplying them was going to be in business the next week. I could have bought a 1.2M tall Trachylospermum creeper, which was about 60cm wide (bushy), in a 10L bag, for R49.00!
The problem with our game, is that we don't sell many products that you can just take off the shelf, take it home & install it.
In the case of plants, you have to know whether the plant you buy can go in the sun, in the shade, what type of soil, how much water etc, & unless you know what you are doing, or you are an avid gardener, you rely very heavily on the advise that you are given, or that you ask for, & if that is not forthcoming or wrong, then the knock on effects can be huge.
Although we sell products, this industry is or should be very customer service driven. The two go hand in hand, & if one is missing, this spells disaster.
The industry sells what some would consider to be luxury items, by which I mean that we do not sell items that are generally essential to survive. (Like foodstuffs). We compete for the entertainment or relaxation rand, i.e. money that folks spend AFTER they have made the neccessary monthly purchases, & with the change in interest rates & climbing fuel prices, is becoming less & less, & unless certain businesses diversify, they cannot survive exclusively on a "Flower & Compost" rand.
I'm also of the opinion, that there are too many "Rats & Mice" wholesale growers out there, who have either been forced into, or who have seen growing plants as easy money, & it is the proliferation of these growers, that has prevented the industry from increasing prices in line with other industries.
The industry needs to share information with each other, & prevent a price war in trying to compete with the smaller individuals. They should rather be concentrating on providing a quality product at a reasonable rate, backed up by superior service.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
SALI Awards 2007
I thought that this would be a good spot to show off what our local talent of landscapers & landscape architects have achieved.
Down the right of the blog, you will see a link to the awards catagories, which are broken up into Gold, Silver, Bronze & Merit. There is also a catagory for the trophy winners. These links will take you to photo albums of the awards.
The SALI awards are there to give credit to those in the landscape industry, that have created a project that has been judged to be of a very high standard. The projects are not judged against each other, but are marked on their own merits, against a scoresheet.
You can read what the National Judge Mr Piet Vosloo had to say about the awards here:
SPEECH
You can also read here, what SALI is, & what it stands for:
SALI
Down the right of the blog, you will see a link to the awards catagories, which are broken up into Gold, Silver, Bronze & Merit. There is also a catagory for the trophy winners. These links will take you to photo albums of the awards.
The SALI awards are there to give credit to those in the landscape industry, that have created a project that has been judged to be of a very high standard. The projects are not judged against each other, but are marked on their own merits, against a scoresheet.
You can read what the National Judge Mr Piet Vosloo had to say about the awards here:
SPEECH
You can also read here, what SALI is, & what it stands for:
SALI
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to the commentry.
Please feel free to make a comment about any of the posts in this blog.
The Aim
The purpose of this blog, is to create a place where folks can leave their comments about anything related to the "green industry". As we said, it's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
I thought that the first post of this blog, should be about the industry as a whole, & what it's like to work in the industry, as a service provider. I would appreciate it, if you could comment on the posts, & hopefully create a repository of comments & ideas, that we can all get something constructive out.
Go for it.
RORKE
Technorati Profile
Please feel free to make a comment about any of the posts in this blog.
The Aim
The purpose of this blog, is to create a place where folks can leave their comments about anything related to the "green industry". As we said, it's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
I thought that the first post of this blog, should be about the industry as a whole, & what it's like to work in the industry, as a service provider. I would appreciate it, if you could comment on the posts, & hopefully create a repository of comments & ideas, that we can all get something constructive out.
Go for it.
RORKE
Technorati Profile
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