Congrats are in order for anyone who wants to start a small business. A person’s entrepreneurial energy can help power unique ideas into the marketplace and help the economy. However, many small businesses fail within their first few years because of the staggering costs associated with running a business. One of the biggest mistakes a small business can do is think it can conduct most of its in-house activities. Many of these activities can be outsourced to a third-party logistics company. Here are three things small businesses owners shouldn’t invest in.
Distribution
For many small businesses, they need to be able to ship products across a geographic region within a deadline. Many small businesses think they are saving money when they keep this service in-house. However, immense amounts of capital and money are used to foster the distribution channels and services the small business tries to have. Companies, like Elite Ops 3PL, specialize in outsourced distribution services so that small businesses do not waste investments in supply chain management. These companies help pack, label, scan, and mail packages across regions while keeping tabs on where and how long the shipment will take en route to its destination. Using a 3PL business for distribution is a huge savings for a small business.
Inventory
Small businesses may seem small, but many need large warehousing needs to help them store their goods and products. However, not every small business can buy or rent a large warehouse to store their products. When a small business does, they may soon discover most of their profits going out the window due to rental costs or property taxes. Outsourcing to an inventory vendor can help reduce property costs and any rental costs. These vendors will keep all a small business’ inventory within a warehousing space that can be streamlined with any distribution management the small business wants.
Printing
Although social media and the internet has changed advertising, companies still need printed paper products to give to customers or leads. In addition, many products that the small business may try to sell may include printed materials, like books or manuals. Investing in large-scale printing machinery can be an immense expense on a small business, particularly a new one. In addition, the small business will always need to be worried that a mechanic will need to be called to repair these essential machines. Instead of in-housing printing services, outsource those services to a printing company. These companies will specialize in the orders the small business needs and all the machine-associated costs will be non-existent for the small business.