The other day I came across a really poor construction job. The job was to resurface some areas, and lo and behold, a week after they finished a strong rain washed away a lot of paint and created bubbles in many places. When a licensed contractor stopped by our office, he commented on the poor workmanship and quipped, “Well, they probably got what they paid for.”
In our shop, we have something we say quite often, “Price, Quality, Time – Pick Two” While not always the case, it holds true day in and day out. If you want something fast and cheap, quality suffers. If you want high quality quickly, be prepared to spend more.
While it’s a bit hard to follow, paying your suppliers a fair price for quality work is the only way to keep that supplier around. No supplier can lose money or not make sufficient profit on jobs and stay in business. We have seen this happen time and time again with so-called website designers. They come to town, charge way less than their costs to “gain market share” and, then, after a short time they leave. This is the cost of hiring the cheapest supplier: they seldom do quality work and do not make enough to stay in business. In the end, the supplier and the customers lose.
At Kona Impact, we believe in quality work at fair prices. This has allowed us to stay in business and continue serving our clients. In the end, we do agree–you get what you pay for!