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Often the pros and cons are two sides of the same coin. For example - we have a 10k sqft warehouse - which is fairly expensive, and required a 5-year lease com
by lxmorj 9y ago
Often the pros and cons are two sides of the same coin.
For example - we have a 10k sqft warehouse - which is fairly expensive, and required a 5-year lease commitment. On the other hand, it's awesome to have so much customizable space completely to ourselves. The lease commitment also helps me keep focused on long-term success - which is especially nice during a rough month.
Our focus now is on growing our Shopify e-commerce businesses. Subscription boxes are great, but in order to support a high-quality staff, we need daily volume. Supporting WooCommerce and the myriad other platforms was too much to handle well. Shopify has a huge footprint, so we've just decided to say no to anyone who doesn't use it.
Our goal is to make our clients never have to worry about their physical items after they are purchased/manufactured. We tie into the Shopify API, download and ship orders automatically, push tracking numbers back to Shopify, and keep their inventory updated. We try to act as much like their internal logistics lead as possible. Too many fulfillment centers have adversarial, garage-mechanic-esque relationships with their clients. I like every business owner we work with, which is a huge benefit for me.
- justboxing 9y agoThis (MonthlyBoxer.com) is awesome! You've solved a "pain-point" on a large ecommerce service. I suggest just focussing on this one instead of the poop bags, because, solving "pain points" to real world problems trumps hate-products, plus the latter could expose you to lawsuits that will distract you from your main venture.... wishing you the best to grow and succeed!
- lxmorj 9y agoI'm actually finding a TON of synergies in running a micro-site internally. I control the volume of sales through my own Facebook ads. If, for example, I were to land a large client, I can dial down my internal sites' traffic to free up my team to absorb that new business while we hire and train more staff. If we lose a client I can also up my spend to keep my staff busy. Essentially it works as a labor-demand-smoother. We're also using our small sites as training grounds for our warehouse team. Few of our best people are content packing boxes forever, so giving them things to grow into (managing a site, marketing, sales, customer support, etc) helps us retain good people longer. Also "get sued by the president" is on my bucket list.