If you are an SME and are growing fast, there may come a point when you have to consider outsourcing your fulfilment and this might be filling you with dread.
If you are shipping thousands of packages a day or need acres of warehouse space then there are plenty of options, including Amazon of course. If, however, you are an SME whose needs are slightly different then read on! We see four different types or 'profiles' of SME:
PROFILE 1 – THE GROWING BUSINESS
Typically you are one of the tens of thousands of successful home businesses that have become victims of their own success.The garage is overflowing with stock, the spare bedroom is full and the clutter is potentially causing marital strife! These growing pains are starting to affect your business and hamper your ability to expand.But whilst your business is clearly successful the investment in buying dedicated warehousing space and the supporting IT systems is not really viable at this stage.You have perhaps tried some of the larger fulfilment providers and found their service is somewhat lacking. What you want is a warehousing department that will care about your business in the same way that you do, a logistics department that will respond to your customer’s needs quickly and one that will rectify problems rapidly.Essentially you want to clone yourself and the dedication and care you have for your young business. It’s your baby and quite frankly the prospect of outsourcing part of your childcare to some faceless mega corporation is daunting.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM A FULFILMENT HOUSE?
To feel that you are special and important, that there is the right space, software and resources but that you and your product can be given care and attention. You need to know your baby is safe.
PROFILE 2 – THE BUSINESS THAT NEEDS TO FOCUS
Your business is built around giving a good service to your customers. Your key strengths are understanding your customers’ needs and matching your products to those needs. Your business has been built on excellent service.
This is what differentiates you from your competitors and so this is what you need to focus your energy on.
For such a high service business getting the logistics right is very important but it is not actually your core strength.
Having to run your own warehouse and logistics actually means you have less energy to focus on what makes you great at what you do. It is a distraction from what you are really good at, namely giving great service to your customers.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM A FULFILMENT HOUSE?
You want it to remove the distraction. You need someone who is really great at warehousing and logistics so your time can be freed up to focus on what will add value to your own business.
PROFILE 3 – THE BUSINESS THAT HAS CHANGING NEEDS
Wouldn’t it be lovely if all businesses had predictable and steady needs? But this is not the reality for many businesses. Sudden rushes, big orders or large seasonal variations often cause logistical headaches.
On the one hand you need to be able to cope with these spikes but on the other you don’t want to be wasting money paying for infrastructure that is unused during the dips.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM A FULFILMENT HOUSE?
An outsourced warehouse that takes away that hassle. They can scale to your needs and can cope with even very large spikes as and when they occur. You will only be paying for what you need.
PROFILE 4 – THE TECHNICAL BUSINESS
Not all products are equal. It is one thing if a CD or a book is a few days late due to some shipping error but entirely another if a vital component is similarly late.
One causes a bit of irritation from a customer while the other can potentially mean an entire factory is down costing tens of thousands of pounds. If you are a technical components supplier you understand this well; you understand that shipping errors and delays are not really an option.
You also understand that sometimes swift delivery is equally as important as the actual product!
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM A FULFILMENT HOUSE?
When running such a business the thought of outsourcing the warehouse and shipping department, quite frankly, terrifies you. You need someone who gets the fear, who understands the consequences of and can anticipate and reduce (or remove altogether!) errors. If they occur, they pull out all the stops to rectify the situation so your customers don't suffer.
Talk to TFP
If you see yourself in any of the above four profiles (or maybe you fit a number of them), then give TFP a call. Gareth will listen to what you want and, hopefully, we can be your perfect match.
Visit www.fulfilmentpeople.co.uk
+44(0)1273 408914
