When bidding out a school system, it’s important for managers to consider the supplies and equipment that will be required to maintain the account. Equipment and supplies are usually about 4 to 8 percent of the total contract but are very important for productivity. Remember that the wrong type equipment (size or durability or function) can have a profound impact on your bottom line. Most contracts will call for certain tasks to be performed on a regular basis and if your crews are struggling with a balky auto-scrub unit or run out of chemicals or have other issues that keep them from being productive, how are you going to compensate? You may get away with poor results for a few days but eventually the teachers and even students will lose faith in your company and crew resulting in complaints to the board or group that originally selected your bid.

Although you do not want to spend money unnecessarily on a name brand, you certainly do not want to purchase equipment that spends more time down than operational. Any down time (in spite of preventive maintenance) can accumulate quickly resulting in not only lost profit but lost opportunities to expand your services. Make sure that you have quality equipment with one or more back up units (maybe older but still works well) you have in stock or on loan from your distributor so that you do not get behind and end up resorting to overtime or excuses that may work once but not too often.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net


posted on 10/14/2015