Stretching the Mighty Dollar

Published March 10, 2006

As the economy changes, we all tend to reevaluate our spending habits in an effort to find ways to stretch the almighty dollar even more. As the demand for perfect conditions on golf courses remains high and the costs associated in producing those conditions continue to rise, it is even more important to be proactive in getting the best bang for our buck. In doing so I thought I would share some of the ways we are stretching our dollars...

Fertilizer - We all know how important nutrition is for our health and so it is true for the turf we grow as well. Plant food or fertilizer is a very important requirement in our efforts to produce healthy turf and it's something we just can't do without. Unfortunately the cost of fertilizer is directly tied to the cost of oil. As the cost of oil increases so too does the cost of fertilizer, not only in its manufacture but its delivery as well. Recognizing this, I pretty much had two choices; One, feed the turf less often and hope it will be enough, or two, find less expensive products that provided the same benefit. I didn't want to sacrifice the quality of the turf so I concentrated my efforts toward the goal of offsetting these rising costs by looking for alternatives. As I mulled over this dilemma, I simply asked myself; what does a bag of fertilizer contain and how is it made? To make a long story short, in general fertilizer is made from a group of raw materials. A fertilizer blender pretty much buys the raw materials, mixes them in a bag, puts a fancy label on it and sells it at an inflated price. Of course, it's really not that simple but in general terms it's pretty close. In light of this, I decided that we would cut out the middle man and go with the raw materials to make our own fertilizer blend. Doing it this way really has its advantages. In addition to the obvious cost savings, I also have the ability to blend any combination of the raw materials to meet the nutrient requirements as the season changes.

Plant Protectants - As part of our management regime we utilize plant protectants to battle turf diseases and other pest such as insects and weeds. Until recently we were at the mercy of the manufactures producing the plant protectants as they held the patents on their products and could set their own price. As these patents run out other manufacturers are now producing these same or similar products and are offering them at a lower price. We're all familiar with this scenario in regard to the medicines we get at the pharmacy. Because of patent expirations we now have the option of generic medicines. Likewise, there are a growing number of companies offering generic plant protectants. In the spirit of continuing to stretch our dollar, we will be using almost exclusively, generic plant protectants in our programs.

Course Supplies - Similar to fertilizers, in some instances suppliers are the middle man in the scheme of product offerings related to course accessories. These distributors often buy raw materials and modify them or simply repackage them for sale to the consumer or in our case golf courses. One particular product we've been able to purchase in the raw form is the plastic stakes we use for traffic control and hazard marking. For example; One 16 inch marking stake from the distributor costs about $6.00 each. That's on a good day. We were able to purchase the raw material, netting a cost of $1.52 for the same stake including shipping. All we had to do is cut them to length and insert a spike. Multiply the difference by 200 and you have a substantial savings. As we continue to look for innovative ways to apply these principals to some of the other products we use, we hope to add to our savings in the future.

Machine Parts - As our equipment fleet ages, the costs associated with their upkeep increases. To offset these costs as much as possible we are always searching for better deals. With the advent of the internet, our odds of finding a better price have increased dramatically. Because of the internet, we not only have the ability to search for better prices, we also have the ability to cross-reference parts and supplies to other industries that offer the same exact part at a much lower cost. A perfect example of this involved a hydraulic component in one of our utility vehicles. A hydraulic valve assembly was worn out and leaking hydraulic fluid. To fix the problem the manufacturer only offered the replacement of the entire assembly at a cost of over $1,000.00 dollars. With a little investigation and thanks to the internet, I was able to cross reference the assembly over to the original manufacturer along with a complete breakdown of its components. This discovery allowed us to rebuild this assembly for less than $40.00 dollars. Again, similar to fertilizer and supplies, manufacturers of equipment are to some extent the middle man. In manufacturing their wares they often use "raw materials" or components made by other manufacturers and use many of these parts to make their own products work. In many cases they deliberately omit the model numbers and identifying marks on these parts making it hard to circumvent their supply chain. The internet is a powerful tool that allows us to research and investigate with the ultimate goal of saving money.

Labor - One of our most expensive line items is labor. Not only does this line item make up the majority of our budget it is also the most crucial component in our ability to manage the golf course. In our efforts to reduce the impact of labor on the budget we will be looking into several types of worker programs that help individual's gain employment. Many of these programs are funded by government agencies that provide individuals looking to enter the work force with the training and skills necessary to be productive in various work environments. Along with providing skilled personnel, many of these programs will pay a portion of or in some cases the entire salary of these individuals for a period of time. It seems like a "win-win" situation. This reduces our financial burden and we have the opportunity to help someone in search of gainful employment. As we investigate our options, I'll update you of our progress.

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