📖Reading: A Small Business Guide to Buying Wholesale

📖 Reading: How Small Businesses Can Benefit from Buying Wholesale

📖 Reading: I’m a Small Busines, How Should I Fulfill an Order? - Simple Steps to Order Fulfillment and Scenarios

📝 Product Labeling - Milk Example

📖 Reading: How to Create a Legal Label for Your Food & Drink Business Pt. 1

📖 Reading: How to Create a Legal Label for Your Food & Drink Business Pt. 2

📝 Template: Order Tracker

Operate Like a Franchise — Even If You’re Not One

Most small businesses aren’t franchises — they’re independent ventures built from the ground up. But there’s an important lesson entrepreneurs can learn from how franchises operate: successful franchises run on systems, not guesswork.

When someone buys a franchise like Subway, they’re not just buying a name — they’re buying a complete turnkey system. Every detail is defined and repeatable: how to open and close each day, how to clean the space, how to prepare every sandwich step-by-step, and even how much of each ingredient to use. Nothing is left to chance, which means customers get the same quality experience every time, no matter which location they visit.

You can apply this same mindset to any business, even if it’s not a franchise. Documenting your processes — from how you serve customers to how you restock inventory — creates consistency, reduces waste, and increases efficiency.

The benefits are powerful:

• Consistency: Every customer receives the same quality experience, reinforcing your brand.

• Efficiency: Clear steps reduce mistakes and save time.

• Scalability: With written systems in place, the business can grow or train new employees easily.

In short, think like a franchise owner — build systems so your business runs smoothly, even when you’re not there.

📖 Reading: Quality Control Best Practices for Small Businesses

✅ Checklist: Quality Control Checklist for Small Businesses

What Are Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Why Your Business Needs Them

Every business, no matter how small, runs on routines — from how you open each morning to how you serve customers or manage inventory. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are simply the written version of those routines. They are clear, step-by-step instructions that describe how to complete specific tasks the right way, every time.

Having SOPs helps you stay consistent, save time, and avoid mistakes, especially as your business grows or when new team members join. For example, if you own a café, you might have an SOP for how to prepare drinks, clean equipment, or close the shop at the end of the day. These procedures make sure everyone follows the same process and delivers the same level of quality your customers expect.

Even solo entrepreneurs benefit from SOPs: they help organize work, track what’s being done, and make it easier to delegate when the time comes. In short, SOPs keep your business running smoothly and professionally, just like a well-oiled machine.

Here is an example of SOPs in a business:

📝 Example: SOPs of a Catering and Events Business

In STEP 24 you designed your operating model. While the operating model is concerned with mapping out how you deliver your service or make you products, businesses also need to establish processes for accomplishing many of the daily tasks involved in running the business in a consistent manner. You may need what are called standard operating procedures, or SOPs.

You might establish SOPs for any number of daily activities, but the focus should be on regularly occurring activities that affect your ability to operate efficiently and effectively. Having a step-by-step standardized approach ensures fewer mistakes. Examples could include:

• how the phone should be answered

• how to handle cash from customer purchases

• how to open the business each morning

• how to close the business and lock up at the end of the day

• how to interview a job candidate

• how to orient a new employee to the business

• how to prepare a social media post

• greeting and seating customers when they come in

• how a customer complaint should be handled

SOPs are directions for the smaller, more detailed activities that happen within a business. There are many potential areas in which SOPs might become relevant, particularly as you add employees and they will vary greatly depending on the business. A restaurant may include, food handling procedures, what to do when a customer sends their food back, or how to greet and seat customers. The SOPs for a hair salon may include how to book an appointment, what to do before and after each haircut, or how sweeping after each haircut is to be done.

To create SOPs you will want to begin by identifying key tasks that regularly occur in your business, where you do not want things done arbitrarily or with lots of discretion. These are tasks where standardizing the approach can reinforce professionalism, reduce critical mistakes, ensure consistency, save time, or add value. Make a list of these tasks, then document each process in detail. Start by writing down the steps involved in performing the process. Be specific and thorough. A step in the process that is obvious to you may not be obvious to an employee. Use diagrams or flowcharts to help illustrate the process. Include any forms, templates, or checklists used in the process.

Here is an example of a standard operating procedure for washing dishes:

• First, be sure to wash dishes in basin dedicated to dish washing. That basin should not be used to rinse food or wash hands.
  Put on cleaning gloves.

• Fill basin with 110 degree water, using thermometer to confirm temperature of water.

• Put in ¼ cup industrial dish washing soap.

• Before putting dishes in wash water, scrape off food.

• Wash each cup, dish, bowl, fork and spoon separately, one at a time.

• Take each item and cleanse it front and back 2 times to make sure nothing is missed.

• Put it in the second sink for rinsing.

• Rinse water should be changed regularly.

• Finally, sanitize each item in a third basin using the sanitizer provided for you, using ¼ cup per basin.

Procedures for some tasks or activities may seem unnecessary. However, others can greatly enhance your daily operations. For instance, you might wonder why directions on how to answer the phone are necessary? Standard Operating Procedures ensure that every task is completed exactly as you would like it to. Having a procedure for answering phone calls or booking appointments takes any arbitrariness out of the task while setting a standard for professionalism. Employees are able to quickly and effectively complete tasks without considering how it should be done. SOPs also ensure that every task completed is done in a way that aligns with the culture and values of your business.

Finally, while addressing the critical activities with SOPs can help ensure your professionalism and consistency, you don’t want to overdo it. Too many steps and procedures make it hard to adapt to situations or to flexibly respond to circumstances.

📖 Reading: Invoicing for Small Businesses - Everything You Need to Know to Get Paid

📝 Template: Simple Invoice Template

📝 Template: Invoice Template - Services

📝Template: Invoice Template - Products

📖 Reading: Best Practices for Maintaining Equipment

📖 Reading: Key components of Inventory Management for Small Businesses

▶️Video: Inventory Management Explained

▶️Video: Tips to Find Suppliers

📝Example: Inventory Management Process Map Example

📝Example: Inventory Control - Bike Rental Business

Finding Suppliers:

If you have a clothing store, a restaurant, or you make and sell a product, inventory is a key to your success. Having enough raw materials, ingredients and component parts, as well as finished goods, and having them at the right time, is key to making sales and also saving money. You must always be aware of how much product you have, how much you need, and where and how quickly you can get more. At the same time, you don’t want to be stuck with inventory, having inventory you don’t need or that won’t sell.

For many of our entrepreneurs, their initial operations are quite small and so they only buy in small quantities. These quantities are not large enough to enable the entrepreneur to purchase materials at wholesale prices or get volume discounts. So, they end up purchasing at retail stores like Walmart or Costco. This is a disadvantage, as they are purchasing at retail to sell at retail, which undercuts their ability to make decent margins on each item they sell. The goal should be to purchase everything at wholesale, or based on volume discounts, as soon as possible. Otherwise, you are competing with companies that start with a big advantage.

When you are ready to purchase things at wholesale, conduct a formal search for sources of supply. Start with an online search. So, if you make candles, search for ‘suppliers of candle wax’ and a number of wholesalers will show up. You can also attend a trade show or event for businesses in the same industry as you. Another approach is to check out trade associations for your products or join an industry group. More simply, you might talk with other business and get recommendations.

For some businesses, you may be able to get better prices on certain items by joining AmazonBusiness. A different platform is Faire Wholesale that features U.S. sources of supply to address small business needs. EK wholesale, which is based in Scotland, offers high-quality goods, and is integrated with Shopify. Wholesale Central in another platform offering a wide range of products. IndiaMart also offers a large range of options. In addition, there are search engines such as AliExpress where you can find thousands of wholesale products of medium- to low- quality, sourced from China. Another example is DHgate.

When you identify places to get inventory, be sure to carefully evaluate them in terms of:

• prices,

• quality of merchandise,

• minimum order sizes,

• delivery fees,

• lead time to get delivery,

• returns policies, and

• policies or perks of each seller.

Keep in mind that some of these options also have membership fees. It is also worth remembering that you may be able to negotiate different aspects of the purchasing arrangement with a given supplier. Remember, you can negotiate many aspects of your arrangements, so feel free to ask for what you need. Other helpful insights on finding and buying from wholesale suppliers can be found at: https://www.shopify.com/blog/wholesale-suppliers

Managing Inventory

If you sell multiple products (as opposed to services) then inventory is a big issue. Inventory ties up your cash, and represents risk (as you can be stuck with items that do not sell), so it must be carefully managed. When it comes to how much inventory of different items to purchase and keep in stock, you might want to consider a simple ABC inventory management system. While there are software packages available, you can do this yourself. With ABC (which stands for Always Better Control over your inventory), you divide the items you are selling into three categories or buckets (A, B and C).

Basically, you are grouping your products based on how much they are likely to contribute to the overall performance of your business. You can use different factors for grouping items, but one approach is to focus on how many units of an item you expect to sell, what the item cost you to make or acquire, and the markup or margin on this item. You may want to review our discussion of volumes and margins in STEP 16).

Group A would include your highest potential products, or products that have good margins or markups on them and that you expect to sell medium to high amounts. These are even more attractive if they are items that cost you more to make or acquire and that have higher prices and margins. Group B is an intermediate category and here you could include products having either i) medium volumes (in terms of number of units) with medium to low margins, or ii) high volumes with low margins. Group C consists of products from which you will not make much money, usually because they sell at a slow rate (fewer units) and the margins you make on each sale are moderate to low. Consider grouping the items that you will be selling in three different categories:

• Category A Products (higher potential)

• Category B Products (medium potential)

• Category C Products (lower potential)

There is a general principle that has been proven time and time again. It basically suggests that up to 20 percent of your products will fall into Category A, while 30 percent of whatever you sell will fall into Category B, and 50 percent (or more) of the things you sell with fall into Category C. Called the Pareto Principle, it suggests that 20 percent of the items you carry will end up producing 80 percent of the money you make.

The message is clear. The entrepreneur who manages inventory based on this ABC approach will pay the most attention to carefully monitoring the Category A products. These are the items that you do not want to stock out of, and so you will buy or make the most frequently. This is where your real money will be made. It is where you might want to concentrate your marketing efforts as well. Alternatively, you are less concerned about stockouts of your Category C items, and may choose to re-purchase these items less frequently.

Again, you can do this by hand or using a simple spreadsheet. Once you are up and running, you should keep a close eye on the patterns in terms of what is selling the most and what has the higher margins. Over time, you might move products from one category or bucket to another. Finally, a number of free inventory management tools are also available that can help you tracking the state of your inventory. Examples include:

• Odoo: Has been rated as being good overall

• Square: Is especially good for retailers and restaurants

• Zoho Inventory: Is very good when you have very large inventories

• ABC Inventory: Is viewed as quite good for manufacturing and repair shops

• Sortly: Is rated high when it comes to a mobile inventory app with barcoding and scanning

More detail on inventory software for small businesses, and a spreadsheet for use in tracking inventory, can be found at: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/free-inventory-management-software/

As the business begins to get traction, you will need to revisit the mix of products and/or services that you are selling. In this step, we examine what to emphasize and what to consider dropping. In STEP 69, we will consider what you might add.

When you first start the business, the entrepreneur offers the products and services that a) they think will sell; b) they can afford to make or purchase; and c) they are able to source. With time, they begin to see what is selling and what is not (although they might not yet understand why), they become able to offer more of certain items, and they become aware of additional sources of supply. If you go back to STEP 12, where you estimated which products or revenue drivers would sell the most, compare that estimation to what has actually happened.

As we noted in STEP 52, there is a rule that suggests that 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of the products or services that you sell. So, the beginning point is to analyze sales data. Try to determine the answers to the following three questions:

• For which particular products or services do you sell the most units?

• Which particular products or services bring in the most revenue?

• Where you sell multiple versions of the same product or service, which ones (sizes, models, versions) do you sell the most of?

One additional question requires your attention. Does the sale of a given product or service affect the sales of other products or services. An example would be the tendency of people who buy a dress from you would also buy a belt or a scarf? In a bar, do people who buy appetizers also tend to purchase more drinks? In a surfboard shop, do people who buy long boards also tend to buy board wax from you?

Also consider products that take considerably more time to make or acquire, and yet do not bring in that much revenue. Another consideration is products that have ingredients or components that are very difficult to acquire, or where the costs of acquiring them can vary widely—and yet again they do not produce that many sales. With this information in hand, you can begin to make adjustments to your mix of products and services. Rank in order all your products or services in terms of which are the winners, which are doing okay or play an important role, and which are the leading candidates for elimination. Do this ranking for each type of product, and then separately, for the different sizes, styles, models or versions of a given product.

The ones at the bottom of the list are your dogs and, in the early years of a business, you cannot afford to be carrying too many dogs. They tie up resources that could be devoted to higher potential items.

For the items you believe you should continue to offer, you need to adjust inventory levels. The ABC inventory analysis discussion in STEP 52 will be helpful in rethinking how much of a given item to stock. You want to carry more of your winners, and acquire them more frequently (or make more of them). For other items, consider adjusting the inventory levels downward. This sort of analysis should not be a one-time thing. Profits are greater for the entrepreneur who understands that adjusting your inventory levels must be an ongoing process.

Finally, as you look across the mix of products and services that you decide to continue selling, think about creative merchandising tactics. Where products tend to be purchased in combination (like the surfboards and the board wax mentioned above), you might provide a special or discount to encourage this. You might experiment with bundling, where an insurance company tries to bundle homeowners insurance and car insurance. Another option is a “loss leader strategy”, where you sell some items at cost or below cost (usually items that are not that profitable in the first place) because it might incentivize the customer to buy something else from you that has a higher margin. For instance, a grocery store that sells turkeys at below cost might find the customers end up buying all the things that go with a turkey dinner from them, so in the end the store is ahead.

One of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship is how a business emerges, and usually in ways not anticipated when the entrepreneur first starts out. A key part of this emergence involves additions to the mix of products and services being sold. Frequently, what proves to be the best-selling and most profitable product or service for a business was not initially being offered.

Once you conduct the analysis of your current products and services, as described in STEP 68, and have a sense of what your winning products are and if you have any dog products, you are ready to consider new possibilities. The key question becomes whether there are any gaps or holes in your mix of products.

As you consider new products or services, here are four sample directions you might explore:

Are there complementary things you might sell, such as a business that makes and sell chocolate candies and decides to add hot chocolate mix, or a company that sells barbeque and decides to add its own brand of barbeque sauce or seasoning or flavoring rubs. In our car detailing example above, the entrepreneur is evaluating whether to add engine cleaning. While it does seem complementary, it is not a service most of the customers for the existing three product lines (detailing, waxing and car care products) would necessarily want. Customers seeking this service are probably a distinct (and perhaps very small) niche. Further, the new service might involve equipment, training and even some potential legal liabilities that are above and beyond what is needed for the things that are currently selling.

A second direction worth considering would be to add items to existing lines, such as the wipes for leather in our example above. Alternatively, consider a store that sells a line of hand-made leather purses in three different styles. For the most popular style, the entrepreneur is considering introducing a slightly smaller version of the same purse. Similarly, an entrepreneur who sells kettle corn might contemplate adding a spicier version of the basic product.

A third possible direction would involve modifying existing products to create a new offering for a market you are not currently serving. For instance, an entrepreneur who produces beautifully designed baby bibs decides to add a new line of bibs intended for developmentally challenged adults. With our car detailing example, we might think about offering a unique detailing package to auto dealerships, where we would focus on a servicing a large volume of cars.

As a fourth direction, the entrepreneur might consider introducing value-added services that are applied to the existing items that you sell. If we consider an entrepreneur running a gift store, the entrepreneur might assess the attractiveness of adding a fee-based delivery service for the products you are currently selling, or adding a gift-wrapping service. Another example would be our entrepreneur who makes the baby bibs. While she produces a number of different designs for her bibs, she might be considering adding a customizing service, where a customer could have the baby’s name or some other letting added to the bib.

As you consider adding products or services, there are four critical points to keep in mind:

Point #1:

Don’t add products just to add them. We frequently find that entrepreneurs assume that the more products they have, the more money they will make. Just the opposite is often the case. It is not about how many products you offer, but whether you are offering the right products. Further, as we discussed in STEP 68, you want more inventory invested in your products that sell the most and make you the most money—adding products can take away from your ability to do this.

Point #2:

Don’t add products or services that are not in alignment with what you currently sell and how your company is positioned in the marketplace. Doing so is confusing to customers, and undermines the identity of your business. If you make and sell your own brand of lip gloss, it might not make sense to also sell eyelash extensions, and would make even less sense to try and sell screen printing services.

Point #3:

Keep your customers in mind as you add products. You might be serving different market segments, but you do not want to add products that will appeal to new segments.

Point #4:

Be careful about adding products or services based on your own wants, needs or preferences. Just because you like something does not mean that a sufficient number of other people will buy it from you. When you have ideas for new products based on things that you like, run the ideas past a number of your existing customers, not just asking them if they like the idea, but how often and how much they would buy of the product if it was made available.

Finally, as you consider ideas for new products or services, it is important to do research. One of the best sources of new product ideas is to listen to your customers. Keep in mind that customer’s needs are always evolving and changing. What sort of products do they ask about that you are not currently offering? You might also periodically ask some of your loyal customers for ideas of things they would like to see added. Be careful, however, that you do not over-react to a suggestion from a single customer—try to get a consensus from multiple customers that the new item is something they would regularly buy from you.

You will also want to keep your finger on the pulse of industry and competitor trends. Do research on your industry to see what new products are coming, or what kinds of items have recently been introduced. Attend trade shows that focus on your industry. Go online and look at businesses like yours in other cities—especially ones that are doing well. Look at their product offerings for ideas. When you are traveling, visit as many competitor businesses as you can.

This step is all about getting smart and sophisticated with your buying. When first starting out, most entrepreneurs do not have experience with procurement for a business. They know how they personally buy things, but purchasing for a business is an entirely different ballgame. We discussed some of the basics of initially identifying sources of supply and setting up your approach to inventory management in STEP 52. Now you are ready to get more professional (and efficient) in how you buy things.

Once you are up and running, it is important to move to a strategic approach to purchasing. This means developing a purchasing (or procurement) strategy, which many entrepreneurs fail to do early on. As opposed to simply buying what you need when you need it, successful entrepreneurs have a procurement or purchasing strategy. They attempt to anticipate their purchasing needs over the next six to twelve months. They buy in larger quantities from dependable suppliers (vendors), with whom they develop relationships. These suppliers are selected based on detailed research and an assessment of their ability to perform on a set of criteria. The entrepreneur negotiates with these suppliers. The entrepreneur also has clear priorities set in terms of the relative importance of quality, price, when payment is due, delivery times, returns policies, and other indicators of supplier performance.

Keep in mind that buying strategically is directly tied to managing your inventories intelligently. You might find it helpful to go back and review our discussion of the ABC inventory analysis discussion in STEP 52. As you identify the items that fall into the “A” category, or that are more tied to higher sales and margins, these are the items you will be purchasing more often and/or spending more money on. They are the items that you want to be more careful about when selecting suppliers, and on which you will want to spend more effort when it comes to negotiating.

In addition, the entrepreneur should develop a protocol or standard approach when interacting with a given supplier. This is a set of professional practices that you rely upon each time you buy from that particular supplier. It starts by knowing exactly what your needs are from the supplier, including the number of units (and not buying more than you require, or things you do not need), and when you need them. This could also involve having a policy for how far in advance of your needs to purchase from that supplier. It includes having a budget for what you are able to spend (and not exceeding that budget). Additional issues include having a negotiation strategy in mind before you approach the supplier (the terms you plan to negotiate, such as price or time of payment, and using what tactics). When suppliers make verbal promises, you might try to get them in writing.

Another key part of your protocol should involve keeping good records on each supplier you deal with and everything you purchase. Examples include records on exactly what items and in what quantities you bought from that supplier, how you paid (cash, check, credit card, electronic payment), any discounts the supplier gave you, how much time the supplier gave you to pay (e.g., 30 days), whether the supplier delivered the items or you picked them up, how long it took to get delivery, and any items that you had to return. The protocol might also include how you handle things when you have a complaint or there is some problem with supplier performance. Finally, the same standards you used to select the supplier should be used to regularly evaluate their performance.

📖 Reading: These 7 Small Business Shipping Tips Will Save You Time and Money

2025 - USPS Shipping Rates

2025 - FedEx Shipping Rates

▶️Video: Must-Know Tips for Shipping Your Product From Home Pt. 1 (Candle Buisness Example)

▶️Video: How To Choose The Cheapest Way to Ship Your Product (Candle Business Example, Pt. 2)

📖Reading: How To Handle Product Returns As A Small Business

▶️Video: Delivery and Shipping-How Supply Chain Issues Affect Small Businesses

What Is a Logistics Plan and Why It Matters for Your Business

A logistics plan is the roadmap that keeps your business moving efficiently — it’s how you make sure the right products, materials, or services get to the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost. Whether you run a bakery, an online shop, or a cleaning service, logistics covers everything that happens after a customer places an order — from sourcing supplies and managing inventory to packaging, delivery, and follow-up.

Having a solid logistics plan helps you save money, reduce delays, and keep customers happy. It allows you to anticipate what’s needed (like delivery schedules, storage space, or supplier coordination) and avoid last-minute stress or wasted resources. For example, if you sell handmade candles, your logistics plan might include ordering materials in advance, tracking stock, choosing the most cost-effective shipping method, and making sure deliveries arrive safely and on time.

In short, logistics is about turning great products and services into great customer experiences through reliable, organized systems that make your business run smoothly from start to finish.

Here is an example of a Logistics Plan for a Local Transportation Business.

📝 Example: Logistical Plan for Transportation Services AFTS

You have a product, but you need a way to get it to your customers. What’s the best way to deliver or ship your product to your customers?

Establishing your delivery approach

There has been a significant trend towards customer’s preferring that products get delivered to their homes or selected locations. Taking into account your product, as well as your target audience, you will want to determine what makes the most sense for your business. Should you offer delivery at all, should you provide it yourself, or should you use a thirdparty delivery service?

If delivery is not something customers normally expect, you are likely better off not to incur the expense when you first start, unless you are attempting to use delivery as a means of differentiation from competitors. Even here, be sure the cost is worth the benefit in terms of increased sales.

Providing delivery yourself requires preparation. Not only do you need a properly equipped vehicle and insurance (if using a personal vehicle your insurance company will need to know it is being used for business purposes), but you will have fuel costs, labor time to make deliveries, a delivery and routing schedule, and contingencies should customers not be at home when you deliver goods.

Here are examples of issues an entrepreneur would need to consider if they were providing delivery of food items or items subject to spoilage:

- Range for delivery: make it clear to your customers the boundaries of your delivery service.

- Delivery vehicle: If you can afford to have a dedicated delivery vehicle for your business, that may be your best option if the volume of deliveries is high. However, it might take some time to get there. As an alternative, use your own vehicle, or allow your delivery driver to use their vehicle, making sure to track gas mileage so they can be reimbursed.

- Delivery driver: maybe this is you, or a family member to start out, or, if the volume of orders becomes substantial enough, hire an employee whose sole purpose is to deliver food.

- Mechanism of keeping food warm or cold.

- Packaging in which items will be delivered.

- A delivery system: This can include a range of factors such as how items are loaded into the vehicle and in what order, a delivery route schedule, how customers are informed of delivery times, how completed deliveries are recorded, how to handle orders that include incorrect items or items damaged in transit, among other things.

Today, it is increasingly easy to find third party delivery services that can remove a lot of the delivery headaches. Some specialize in particular items (e.g., Uber Eats or Doordash for restaurant deliveries, Instacart for groceries) and some deliver a broader range of items (e.g., Roadie). With these, you need to look carefully at their performance records, fee schedules, and guarantees or commitments.

Establishing your shipping approach

Shipping items of all types and sizes has become relatively easy, affordable, and allows entrepreneurs to reach customers in locations far from wherever the entrepreneur is based. While a shipping strategy is a necessity for online businesses, it is increasingly important for lots of businesses that sell products from physical locations.

Start by defining your shipping strategy. Consider the types of products you sell, the average order size, your target market and where they are located, how quickly customers require the items, and your budget. Will you offer free shipping, charge customers for shipping, or have a combination of both? Will you handle shipping in-house or outsource it to a third-party logistics (3PL) provider? These third-party companies can handle all your order fulfillment needs for you.

Take into account such factors as packaging materials, weight, dimensions, shipping method, destination, and calculate your shipping cost. If you are shipping multiple different products, you’ll want to calculate the cost of each product as they may differ by size. The US Postal Service, as well as carriers like United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx have easy to use calculators to help you determine the cost of shipping.

Next you will choose a carrier. USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL are popular options. Consider the reliability, affordability, coverage areas, speed, and tracking capabilities when deciding who to go with.

Once you have decided on a carrier, you’ll need to gather the necessary supplies to ship your products, this may include packages, tape, and the necessary labels. Be sure to package your products correctly and according to the carrier’s guidelines. This will ensure products get to your customer timely and safely. Consider also how you want the contents to arrive to your customer, and what kind of experience you want them to have in opening your package, called an “unboxing experience”. This will be the first impression your customer has of your products and your business. Do you want to include a thank you note, instructions about the product, or the story behind your business? Will the product be wrapped in brand-identifiable paper? Will you include QR codes leading to special offers, places to leave testimonials, or provide feedback? Consider the box and package an opportunity to build or deepen a relationship with your customer and set you apart from competitors.

After deciding what carrier to use, a system for shipping will need to be put into place. This may include setting up a shipping station in your home, office, or store, designating specific people to handle shipping, or specific tasks of shipping, and also putting protocol in place to ensure that customers receive their package on time. You may ship goods (or have them picked up for shipment) at a particular time each day. Whatever this process looks like, you will want it to be systematic. Also, the customer should receive tracking information after placing an order. This can be as simple as sending a picture of the tracking information from the shipping receipt to the customer’s email or phone number. Tracking info allows the customer to track their own package, and can also save you from liability when packages go missing, or arrive late.

The shipping process should be clear to your customers. Make sure that your website has all of the information regarding shipping, like the price, expected delivery date, return policy, and any other charges or restrictions.

Finally, here are some general questions to address when making decisions about both delivery and shipping:

1. Do your competitors charge for shipping or delivery?

2. Is it typical in your industry to charge for shipping or delivery? For example, in the food delivery industry, a delivery fee is almost always charged.

3. What would your customer expect? In some cases, free shipping or delivery will not only entice a customer to buy your product, but it will also bring them back in the future.

4. Distance. If most of your shipping is done locally, then offering free shipping may be more affordable.

5. Evaluate your pricing strategy. Does your strategy leave room for your business to absorb the cost of shipping? Or will this greatly affect your profit? You may consider raising the price of the product in order to offer free shipping to customers.

If the shipping and delivery processes seem daunting and you are not sure where to start, research to see how other companies do it, and be sure to consult people in your network running similar businesses. Ask how they structure their shipping, what carrier they use, if they charge for shipping, and anything else you may want advice on.

📝 Product Labeling - Milk Example

📖 Reading: How to Create a Legal Label for Your Food & Drink Business Pt. 1

📖 Reading: How to Create a Legal Label for Your Food & Drink Business Pt. 2

📖 Reading: Essential Shipping Materials to Safely Ship Your Products

📖Reading: After-sales service: 10 strategies to keep customers engaged