According to bv.world, lost productivity from inefficient supply chains is costing UK businesses over £1.5 billion per year.

Are you one of these businesses and what are you doing to make your supply chain more efficient?

The journey in starting a new brand, albeit exciting, is a long and treacherous one. A likely narrative would read; newly listed with all the household retailers, incredible product shots and your social media accounts all set and ready for business take-off…

Ticking all the boxes leading up to your launch date can be a daunting task. The blood, sweat and tears in establishing a brand and having a well-packaged product to present to an ever-changing market can give you a warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment. That warm fuzzy feeling then turns into stock selling like hotcakes and the scary realization of constantly going out of stock.

Stock management and forecasting can be a tricky ordeal for an expert of the field so it is completely understandable that this could potentially become overwhelming for a newbie. It is often something of an afterthought within the start-up and SME industries when ideally, the supply chain should be at the top of mind. This afterthought could be costing your small business hundreds of thousands of pounds or, worse, your listings.

An ineffective, sub-optimal supply chain can cause:

1. A loss of reputation with key customers and most importantly, with your consumers, way down at the end of the supply chain.
2. Unnecessary capital expenditure in carrying too much or too little stock and being reactive to inefficient planning processes.
3. A lack of means to spend on other important areas like marketing, necessary for growing the brand.

I have a strong opinion that in order to create a competitive brand you will need to ensure you have put measures in place to build a competitive supply chain. The two aspects need to complement one another in order to thrive.

If any of this resonates with you and you would like to explore working with us, have a read of our Outsourced Services page or get in touch with our team of experts.