If you are in the South African landscaping industry, you will agree that it offers its own unique rewards and challenges. That being said, we sometimes have ongoing challenges that are so old that we now see it as a way of life, instead of a problem.
Contrary to popular belief, technological advancement has not left the landscaping office behind. Here’s how to get with-it:
Plan Measure
Remember the old planimeter with the wheel and manual calculations? A little bit complicated and outdated. Very few companies actually ever owned one and measuring curved areas from a plan is mostly done with time consuming calculations or estimated with ruler measurements.
Enter: The wireless plan measure. While the digital wireless plan measure is brand new, digital plan measures are relatively old, yet uncommon in South Africa. You can set the scale on the digital screen and readings of areas and distance go directly to your computer as you roll the wheel on the plan. Now isn’t that a 100% accurate time saver?
Controlling project spend management
Have you ever had to find spending mistakes by following a paper trail? If paperwork was done and filed correctly, it could be done in ‘n reasonable amount of time. When accounting for human errors, we add a few more minutes and often even hours. Wouldn’t it be more efficient if you could have all spending info on our computer or phone?
Introducing: The online purchase order system. Now you can accept, reject or comment on all purchase orders from an app on your smartphone or computer. What’s more, you can set up budgets for different projects which are updated in realtime. That sounds like a treat. Complete control over all spending, using a simple app on your smartphone. Visit Procurementexpress.com for more info.
Creating a stunning company profile
If you want a professional looking website, business stationary and competition/design manual presentations you need a competent graphic designer. Graphic designers are terribly expensive and you don’t always get what you want or when you want it. The ultimate solution would be to have an in-house graphic designer for this and that.
But wait: You can have a graphic designer right now, online. There are various freelance websites with 1000’s of graphic designers (among other professionals) who you can choose from. You can find a graphic designer from anywhere in the world, to do exactly what you want, for the right price, right now.
Facebook used to be a staff time-waster in the workplace, frowned upon in the best of times and we won’t mention the worst of times. Mostly Facebook was blocked from office computers and why not? Social media is a social activity, which means you don’t do it at work.
Right? Well back then it might have been less wrong than now. Now Facebook is a useful marketing tool that anyone can use. You have an office full of social, creative designers. Why not use one to create a beautiful Facebook Page for your company. They might have useful garden advice once a week, post photos of your best work in the gallery and even invite all their friends to check out how cool their job is, thereby advertising your company. Free advertising and fun for all.
Bad Coffee
I have had some bad coffee in landscaping offices in my time. Only now, working for Procurementexpress.com have I realised the advantages of having good coffee in the workplace.
Compared to regular ol’ coffee, having a good coffee machine at work is an excellent stimulant for brainstorming and just consider the advantage of offering a valued client a decent cuppa or all the delicious benefits it gives the boss.
Go on, you deserve new efficient tools to play with.
