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pinching pennies - losing pounds?

Everything we have done this week has involved examining costs.  Not that unusual in small businesses generally or in the current economic climate.  There are deals to be done, but of course it is a two way street.  In the last few working weeks I have saved several thousand pounds by asking for discounts and negotiating hard, being Scottish I would like to think I would do that everytime but I know that I don’t – it is only when a product or service seems expensive or a supplier lets me down do I choose to delve deeper, look for an alternative or negotiate harder.

As a business that provides products and services to the nursery sector we know that we cannot always be the cheapest – there will always be someone bigger or more desperate that will cut margin to the bone to secure business and yes we have been guilty of that to secure some business that is either personal or tactical.  It still surprises me though how lazy uninterested companies are when looking at costs and will often sacrifice safety or compliance in exchange for a ‘deal’, and nurseries, are unfortunately, some of the worst offenders.

Why? Well lets use an example.

Nursery A reckons they save a fortune because they send someone to Tesco and Asda and Lidl to get the best products at the best price – there are a few nurseries that are walking distance from a major supermarket but not that many.  The cost of a bottle of own label sanitiser may be only £1.29 – Dettol is £2.99 but may be on special. Popping to the supermarket is not a 5 minute task, one individual may buy product X because they like it or they get clubcard points or its the cheapest on the shelf – that day.

Let me become a worst case pessimist here…. The individual in the car driving back to the nursery is in a car accident – is their car insurance covered? Probably not. Would the driver be carrying MSDS (Bleaches and acids when mixed can cause an explosive reaction and toxic gas) probably not. Back at the nursery the member of staff slips a disk lifting the bags of chemicals out of the car – is manual handling supplies from a car covered? Probably not.  All staff that use chemicals must understand COSHH (Control of substances hazardous to health), and as a commercial premises a nursery owner must ensure that there are Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) in case of a medical emergency – by chopping and changing chemicals it increases the risk of a nurseries compliance greatly. Do nurseries that buy chemicals from supermarkets always carry the right MSDS? probably not.

So it seems like common sense to us to take on that responsibility to our customers. We deliver, we ensure compliance by supplying MSDS and completing annual COSHH training, the best bit is we use a commercial range that require less chemical to do the job (and less time), our sanitiser cleaner works out at 12p a bottle – it is no wonder that this is the products that the supermarkets use themselves!

Pretty much all we do looks at the overall costs - our nappy bins are 50% cheaper to use than sangenic nappy wrapper systems!

Hand Soap is another example of false economy.  A £1 liquid pump soap in the supermarket may deliver 100 doses of soap.  Our 500ml unit delivers 1100 doses of soap not bad for £3.50?

ToyGuard continues to be the only specialist hygiene business that focusses on the nursery and preschool sector.  That insight and knowledge gives us an enviable position of trust which we cannot abuse. So why doesn’t everyone use us?  Well we are still small and couldn’t cope with thousands of enquiries but we have grown considerably over the last year with partners now established in Scotland and the SE of England.  We are talking to several large goups and already have shown some the benefits of a dedicated knowldgeable supplier.

If you would like to chat to us we will be on stand B22 at the Childcare Expo on the 16/17th September at the Ricoh Conference Centre Coventry.

Iain