I might have mentioned at some point that anyone about to go into business should take a few different classes to get them schooled up on the way certain aspects of their business will run. After all, no businessperson will be good at everything: budget, marketing, management, supply, quality assurance, customer service, paperwork… It’s just impossible.
One of those classes should be “Shipping Supplies for the Novice Businessperson”. Someone might assume that you can toss your product into a cardboard box and send it on its merry way. That might wind up getting the product successfully to the destination, but is the product still in the same condition as when it was sent out? And was the customer impressed with their unboxing experience? The answers are probably “no” and “no”. Maybe, but probably not.
Someone might assume that a product needs to be handled with all of these different pieces and parts and you can’t deviate from the strategy. The question is, is a lot of money being wasted, and time too? And can you do just as good of a job with a lot more economic efficiency? The answers to these questions are probably “yes” and “yes”.
The simple fact is that just about anyone is going to need to be informed what type of shipping supplies are appropriate for what you are trying to ship. This could vary depending on the different types of products you have. Instead of wasting money and stock on improper procedures, consider laying up a plan.
One thing I like to recommend for people to do is type up a step by step procedure of how each different product needs to be packaged and shipped. This includes a checklist of what shipping supplies should be used, which will alleviate most of the questions that someone is going to have. After all, everyone will have a different idea of how something should be handled, and a checklist will solve that disparity.
Also, it makes the most sense to have someone in charge of packaging and shipping. If you are not the one who is good at that, than find someone who is. If you are the entrepreneur, find the practical person who can be well-informed and make the right choices. It would even be a good idea for them to team up with a marketing individual to make sure that your business brand is being incorporated somehow into the shipping supplies and packaging procedures.
