One year ago I looked out my 18th floor office window during a cold December winter and watched as the people below braved the elements in hopes of catching a cab or making it in time to the C-train on their journeys home. It was 6:30PM and as I had done many times before I was one of the last to leave the office and head home. I wasn’t as fortunate as some of my superiors who benefited from the perks of underground heated parking and had likely been home hours before. However, as I made my way into the cold and began my walk to the C-train I began to think.
How could I leverage what had taken me 10 years to learn and bring value to not only myself but more importantly to people who might be willing to pay for it. And then I had an even crazier thought. What if I could provide such a compelling value proposition to customers that they would want to pay for my services but ultimately gain greater savings than the cost to buy my services? That evening after my son and wife had fallen asleep I began writing down ideas on a notepad. Before long I had filled up 3 pages full of ideas for a business.
My head ached and I knew I had to go to sleep. It was 2AM and I had to wake up at 6AM to make the long journey to downtown Calgary in the morning as I had done that day and the day before. Frustrated I hadn’t found “THE IDEA” but exhausted I fell asleep. All too soon my alarm was ringing and it was the start to another cold December day. Fast forward to my first meeting of the day and I knew that today wasn’t going to be like any of the other days I had ever had. The meeting was with a so called “leverage” supplier – which in supply chain talk means we have them by the proverbial you know what. In more professional language leverage our purchasing power in the market to drive more competitive rates and contract terms.
As the meeting went on I began to think about how big business had access to such favorable terms, paid far less on a per unit basis than most small and medium sized businesses for the same or similar items, how they enjoyed better relationships with the suppliers and on and on it went. The benefits. The power. Then it dawned on me Purchase Power was born soon thereafter. The vision to provide lasting cost savings to small and medium sized local businesses by combining the purchasing power of the collective in order to drive value for the many. You may be reading this and thinking to yourself what do I have to gain by going at it alone? I don’t know what answer that may be for you but I can tell you that combining spend with other businesses who buy like items isn’t surrendering to your competition.
Quite the opposite actually. Without the purchasing power that greater spend provides you will find your business at a competitive disadvantage compared to your competitors who are willing to do just that. I look forward to sharing with you more of the advantages of the Purchase Power approach. Until next time.
