If Only
How many times have you been in a situation as a Business Owner, Manager, or sales person, when you have said to yourself, If only...? If only I could do this or do that I would be so much further ahead of the game. If only I could increase my sales, if only I could increase my profits, or if only I could lower my overheads. Now, I'm not a sales Guru or any kind of a motivational expert. But, I do know that if I find myself saying "if only" it's because I don't like the out come of a situation I'm in. It's also like wishing. When I find myself saying if only or I wish. I tend to get really annoyed with myself because, that usually means that I have already told myself that I can't change the way things are and that causes a lot of conflict within me because I tend to think that there is always an answer that I can live with. All I have to do is find it. I talk to owners and managers every day, I see the conflict that there in when it comes to coming up with answers to resolve some complex issue. One of the issues they say "if only" about is there costly trash service. "if only" I could get my trash bill under control. It seems that the cost of waste disposal just keeps going up and up. With the emphasis on going green there is a tremendous amount of pressure on business owners or managers. We are all trying to keep up with the demands from the public and government to cut the waste we send to landfill. There is also the need to reduce the cost of the trash that is left after we have recycled all we can. You would think that the waste haulers, that we depend on, would step up with some creative solutions to achieve a waste strategy that would help to reduce our impact on the environment and be cost effective. It has been my experience that the Waste Haulers are the last people we can expect any help from on this issue. You will get about as much help from them as you would by saying "if only" or "I wish". I see owners and managers getting frustrated and verbally battered into submission by the haulers telling them how much they can't do to help and in the same meeting informing them of how much there waste hauling costs are going to go up this year. Here in the United States we live in a free market society. (Thank God and our armed services) We have the choice to choose who we do business with. We rely on competition and market forces to keep the cost of goods and services at reasonable levels. As business people and providers of products or services, we strive to work within the free market system. Our customers demand the best prices, quality and service that we can offer. When we purchase any other product or service for our business we also demand quality and service. Why then are we so reluctant to demand reasonable service and prices from our waste haulers? We accept the fact that waste haulers provide us with a service that leaves us with overflowing waste containers, no shows and prices that most of us would agree are as close to financial rape as you can get for the service they provide. I do understand that we are all focusing on delivering our own products or services to the market. That trash is really not too high up on our priorities. We tend to look the other way and do our best to avoid having to deal with that part of our business. The problem is, it is a part of our business and it's costing us thousands of dollars a year from our bottom line profits. I would speculate that if we where to accept the same lack of innovation and service from our other venders that supply our business needs, as we do from our waste haulers. We would not be able to sustain, never mind grow our business. We would be in a situation that would find us without the raw products we need to manufacture or the ability to deliver those products to market when needed. I'm not going to try to tell you that I have all the answers. I don't. I only have what I believe to be a small part of the answer. There is a company called Enviro Waste Systems, based out of San Jose Ca. that provides (believe it or not) a high compaction machine to qualified companies with no up front capital outlay and a guaranteed reduction in your waste costs. You can contact them at envirowastesystems.com to see if they may have some of the answers you're searching for. Like you, I am at the mercy of the same waste haulers because, I truly believe that there service is essential. I'm also probably like you in my frustration of having to say to myself "if only I could ....." when it comes to the waste haulers cost and service. |
