15th May 2022:
Ok this one is my fault 100%…
I feel like this is confession for me…
I need to get this of my chest. I woke up in cold sweats thinking, I need to tell the world why.
Firstly, I’d like to say to YOU that cost is subjective. You can buy a car for £7,000 and one for £1m. Both get you from A to B. Here’s a little story from a few years ago.
I was at a client’s house and I said, “your pond refurb will be in the £20,000 region” (this was for me to let them know roughly where the costs would go based on my experience)
Now, if they were sat on a chair, they’d of fell of it.
He said “I could buy a family car for that kind of money”
Without pause, I said “You could, but it would make a rubbish pond”
True story. We both laughed. He bought a Ford escort instead.
Moral of the story is there is always a reason why anything costs as much as it does. In our case it’s because of these reasons;
· The research and development into swim ponds to create a system that delivers great projects every time (an investment that’s in the high £100,000s)
· A strong back bone to the company which allows us to survey projects properly, design and plan.
· Our design consultants only role is to take our new clients through the process, so they understand EXACTLY how we work.
· 2 of the country’s best consultants helping our clients through the design process.
· A design department that has no equal in deliverance capability.
· A project manager on each install as well as a team leader.
· A project co-ordinator dealing with supplies.
· A stock manger, managing the companies supplies making sure everything goes where it should.
· A costing system which is now updated every week to match the changes in the marketplace. To make sure each job is priced correctly, and the client gets what they pay for.
· An aftercare part of the company which means we are always willing to help our clients.
· A marketing department that helps the company continue to grow and improve through new and existing clients.
· An office back up that is available for the clients with maintenance support
· A finance department which makes sure the company keeps on top of all its liabilities.
· A team onsite that cares about what they do for the clients and delivers the detail we expect.
We’re so much more than just digging holes in the ground. Our company aim is a healthy net profit between 8-12%. Not unreasonable and allows us to keep growing and be here and support our clients over the next 20 – 30 years.
I see so many great trades people undervalue themselves, and ‘you get what you pay for’ isn’t always true. But I always think that our clients pay for the security its 100% going to be done correctly and if we get anything wrong, we would put it right at my expense.
No blame game…
No finger pointing…
I put my hand up say it’s my fault (because it is) and put it right.
My mindset has always been, build a company that continues to Learn, grow, and support its team and their families. That’s why I grew the business. By doing this we can support our clients. But we can’t do any of that without paying the team what they’re worth and by supplying the best materials we can.
Not just some company all about making the owner wealthy.
So much more than that…
A company with a mission for the whole team…
But we can’t help everyone…
But those we can, those that want it, we WILL change their lives for the better.