Dan Willis told me the other day that a carpet retailer called him to order supplies for his cleaning business which he said is doing very well. His carpet business is doing well, too. He thought the economy is improving and carpet sales are up. But, he complained that earlier this year two big mills he buys carpet from announced price increases of 4 to 6% on their products.
Even though he didn't like it, Dan's customer anticipated these increases in the jobs he priced through the spring season. Then in mid-April he got a letter from the two carpet mills that another price increase of 6 to 8% would be effective the end of April. This really hurt him on the jobs he had already scheduled for May installation.
Bureaucratic vendors who get too big to consider their customers' well-being are just like the bureaucratic government. They make broad decisions that can really hurt a small business. If there are alternatives, it certainly would pay to look for other suppliers.
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