BEYOND THE BUDGET
Sometimes we feel that if a client gets hyper-focused on costs, that the quality of the project could be at risk. We know that working within a clients means can be crucial to a project's success but in this blog we want to discuss the importance of taking the time to look beyond the budget.
Discussing the cost of a project is often at the top of our clients's priority lists when sitting down with us to go over their landscaping goals. Price will of course be an important factor in the decision making process, but it should not be the driving force. In fact, we find that when people center their redesign plans around a budget, that almost 100% of the time they are unhappy with the outcome and wish they would have spent a little more.
Keep in mind that quality, cost and sustainability are often interconnected, so that when one goes up, so do the others. That means that choosing quality over cost is, more often than not, the sustainable choice. Choosing a high quality, long-lasting product means eliminating the need to replace the item, and therefore means reducing waste. We like to make sure the products we recommend are sustainably sourced and of course non-toxic to the environment.
Let's say, for example, that you are interested in getting a new garden shed. You want to save some money so you chose the cheapest option, which happens to be low quality and a little flimsy. With all the heavy rain and scorching heat that is so common in New Jersey, it won't be long before your shed starts to deteriorate and after a few short years you will find yourself having to replace it. The price of the two cheaper sheds might have been more costly than one high quality shed. So in the long run you would have saved time, effort and money by choosing the more sustainable option in the first place.
Ultimately, focusing solely on price and choosing the cheapest option in order to stay within a certain budget can come at a cost. Sure, the immediate cost of the cheapest product could be less, but if the quality is bad and it needs to be constantly repaired or replaced, it will most likely end up costing you more.