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For Jesse Smith, owner and president of Royal Greens Professional Lawn Care, in Frederick, Maryland, the pros and cons of ordering through an early order program go outside the norm due to his market.
For instance, Smith says the weather makes everything about providing lawn care services difficult — even EOPs.
“In Maryland, our weather is so unpredictable — the saying around here is if you don’t like the weather just wait 15 minutes because it changes so frequently,” he says. “It makes it really hard for us to dial in exactly what we’re going to be using come June, July or August.
“We might change things up from the norm if it’s really hot and dry,” Smith adds. “If that’s the case we won’t be putting down much nitrogen at all and will be putting down micronutrients and some other soil enrichment products. Looking at EOPs in November and December, it’s very hard to predict what’s going to be needed.”
However, on the chemical side of things Smith says it’s much easier and that’s where he takes full advantage of EOPs.
“Weed control is weed control. We’re still going to apply that. We have a better idea of what we’re going to need with that,” he says.
Also, in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Royal Green serves customers, governmental mandates restricting what can be applied on lawns also factors into his decision to utilize EOPs.
“For some of those products that we have to use in Montgomery County, it can actually help to soften the cost of those materials a little bit,” he says. “Because they’re not cheap. They go down at very high rates and they’re very expensive materials to begin with… when EOPs come in that can definitely help that a little bit. However, it doesn't really play into us using them or not using them too much.”
Lastly, in the unpredictable world of being a business owner, Smith says saving money through EOPs just helps build up that rainy day fund — because you never know what’s going to happen in the year ahead.
“Our energy costs are going through the roof right now,” he says. “They are up 100- to 200%. It’s something that we’re going to be cognizant of and have to account for when we’re budgeting. So, if I can save a little bit of money in material goods — then I can help change that line item a little bit and put that savings on another line item.”
But if Smith can save his customers a little bit of money by utilizing EOPs — then that’s another bonus.
“The cost savings might help you not have to raise your prices in the coming year or maybe you can have just a minimal price increase because you can convert that material savings into areas where you’ll see an increase in costs,” he says. “Whether that’s labor costs or something else…. It may be that instead of a 7- or 8% price increase if you can get away with a 2- or 3% increase."