Even in this era of giant corporations and international conglomerates, the small businessman is still the backbone of the American economy. Though the shape and contour of day to day business operations have changed rapidly in the last two decades, the essentials of entrepreneurship remain constant as the economy fluctuates and trends and fads come and go.
For the modern small business owner, logistics and order fulfillment management remain one of the most challenging and daunting problems to continued business growth. Complicating the issues of warehouse management, inventory fulfillment, order processing and shipping is the simple handicap of inexperience. Most small business owners simply lack the training and expertise to successfully complete such delicate but crucial business operations.
Business owners who feel that they don’t have the expertise or the resources to handle order fulfillment on their own should seek out the help of professionals . Logistics professionals are trained to know what’s necessary for successful logistics management and know what logistics services a particular service needs to become more successful. Outsourcing the day to day operations and order fulfillment is usually the most cost effective solution for small business owners.
Third Party Fulfillment Streamlines and Supercharges
In a nutshell, independent logistics management companies work overtime to complete all the back end tasks that their client businesses require. This includes the full range of warehousing, product storage, product processing, and delivery shipment needs that the client business has as a result of all their day to day sales operations. In short, these independent providers replace their clients’ back end logistics needs with their own facilities, working on their client businesses’ behalf.
The Advantages of Third Party Companies
By outsourcing, small business both real world and online gain access to resources and a level of organizational sophistication it might otherwise take them years to match. For example, most fulfillment service companies feature state of the art, climate controlled warehousing for their clients’ inventory. Along with the warehouse, the service provider also oversees the hiring, training, and assignments of an expert staff trained to conduct processing and shipping operations in the safest and most cost-efficient manner possible.
Some service providers also help with their client businesses’ front end, offering direct mail marketing logistics and customer service staffing. Typically, service providers charge a percentage of every product fulfilled as their service fee. This amount may start initially small but expand as the client business’ fulfillment needs grow and develop in proportion to its success.