Nothing but the best

Justin Berg has formed strong bonds with vendors in his time with Purple Care. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s watched the costs of materials balloon.

Now, especially as tariffs make anticipating future prices even more murky, Berg is continuing to reevaluate his relationships with those vendors and going through costs with a fine-toothed comb.

“Everything that we buy is not the same cost that it was (pre-pandemic) – not even close,” Berg says. “It went up after COVID, and I think everybody found out you could go up again. Now the end vendor has to change it again.”

Berg says he’s reached his top price with clients, and that’s coming from a company that values their work to the degree that he’s actually concerned if his costs aren’t among the top of the market. The problem is that Berg also wants to be known as the lawn care company that offers the best in the business – the nicest equipment and the nicest products for the turf.

“I want to be known in my market as, if you want the job done right with the finest products, you want these guys,” Berg says. “It’s going to cost you a little more, but those are your guys. I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m $10 more than that guy.”

Berg says the post-COVID inflation has made him evaluate ways to optimize his operations. “It’s made me a better businessman,” he says, adding that it doesn’t take much business savvy to just broadly raise prices. And now, Berg says he feels he can’t just pass the cost of his materials down to his customers. So instead, they’re looking at ways to to slim down their overhead, but part of the reevaluating process also involves leaning on the vendors to see if they can come down on costs.

“We’re putting things out to bid more than we used to,” Berg says. “I’m pretty loyal usually. I like the long-standing relationships – I’m trying to find ‘me’ as a client. I’m loyal, but I expect it back.”

Part of that means asking questions when vendors raise prices by $10 per bag of materials. Berg admits that some of these questions never came up because they’re companies he’s worked with for a decade, so he hadn’t even bothered to check the accounts. “When your margins drop like they have, you really have to deep dive and start looking at everything,” Berg says. “Rather than complain about the margins, I’m happy this has happened. I’m leaner and meaner than I ever have been.”