Top Tips on Choosing the Right Fulfillment Company for Your eCommerce Store

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Fulfillment Company|Top Tips on Choosing the Right Fulfillment Company for Your eCommerce StoreWhether you are new to the eCommerce world or are a keen investor with some extra money for a new business venture, eCommerce fulfillment is a great business to get involved with. eCommerce is only evolving and growing, and in 2021 alone, it is estimated there could be up to 24 million eCommerce stores around the world.

It is extremely easy to set up an eCommerce store, and much cheaper and more practical than setting up a physical store. And there’s no wonder, with over 2.14 billion people browsing and shopping online in 2021.

However, there are some key strategies that you need to know if you want them to be successful.

You can have a great store, a great marketing plan, and a great offering, however, if you do not have your fulfillments in order, then you cannot serve your customers. Without a good fulfillment company, and strategy, you will ruin your reputation and your business is likely to fail. With giants such as Amazon Prime offering quick next day deliveries, and some are even available on the same day, the expectations of customers are the highest they have ever been. Fulfillment is key to your bottom line and a successful eCommerce store.

Here are some top tips to help you get started with your new eCommerce business, and everything you need to know about fulfillment.

What is fulfillment?

Fulfillment can be done in-house or can be contracted out to a third party, but it involves the storing, picking, packing, and shipping of inventory from the warehouse to your customers. There is a lot involved in the fulfillment process before a product can be shipped to a customer. Some of these things include the sourcing of high-quality materials and products, managing the warehouse and the inventory, choosing the right packaging for your product, communication between contractors and staff, and keeping the costs down throughout.

Inventory is the first and most important thing to think about in business. Without an inventory, you cannot fulfill orders for your customers. Some businesses choose to keep the fulfillment process in-house, which means sourcing a warehouse to store all of the inventory, as well as staff members to fulfill the orders. Other businesses choose to outsource the fulfillment process, which is usually with a third party logistics (3PL) provider. This option is not just for large corporations, there are plenty of 3PL for small business contracts.

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Why is it important to pick the best fulfillment company to work with?

Outsourcing this part of your business comes with many benefits, such as allowing you to focus on other areas of your business, broaden your reach and grow into new markets, cheaper operating and shipping costs, and much more. If you choose to fulfill your goods with a third party, then you must pick the best one for your company if you want to reap these benefits. You can have the best product in the world, but if you cannot get it to your customers, it doesn’t matter. The right company can positively contribute to your brand success. It is therefore important to conduct thorough research before signing up with a fulfillment company, to ensure they are the right ones for you. Here are some things to look out for.

Shipping speeds

Modern consumers are expecting fast deliveries, and you have a lot of competition with companies such as Amazon. Make sure you work with a fulfillment company that can offer good delivery times and will stick to its promises. Good shipping speeds are key to the success of the future of your online store. Without good shipping speeds, you risk losing customers as they are more likely to opt to purchase the product with a competitor instead.

Location of the fulfillment company

You will need to know where the location of the fulfillment company is, and ensure that it is in a location whereby the products do not have to travel far. This will help with quicker delivery times, as well as costs. Ideally, they should be located near your target customer base. It can also be helpful to ensure the warehouse is located near ports and main transport routes to more efficiently receive materials and send goods. Depending on the goals of your company, now and in the future, you may also wish to consider if they have warehouses in different locations, and offer a quick and easy global shipping solution. It is also a good idea to visit the warehouse so you can see for yourself how they work to ensure they are a good fit.

Order fulfillment processes and software

When you start and run a business, it is likely that you already have numerous rules, best practices, spreadsheets, software, and processes in place. You will therefore need to ensure that the processes and the software offered by the fulfillment company can easily integrate into your company and values. This is vital because you need full transparency and visibility from the company, so you can keep up-to-date with fulfillments and what is going on with deliveries. This way you can manage customer expectations and trust much better.

Management

The staff and management of the fulfillment company are also key to the success of the partnership. You need to ensure that you get along, the communication is clear and regular, and that your business can get personal attention from them.

When you start or run an eCommerce store, building your brand and trust with customers is vital to the success, and future growth of your business. The fulfillment process is going to play a key role in building trust with your customers, and your reputation. This is because not only do customers expect deliveries quickly, but they also want to be able to track them, and their promise of delivery day and time is kept. If the delivery date offered at checkout is too long, if the delivery is delayed, or if the fulfillment is wrong, then your trust and reputation can quickly be shattered. It is therefore crucial that you conduct your research, speak to different companies and find the best fulfillment company that will work well with your business and keep your interests a priority.

7 Steps for a Killer Business Intelligence Resume

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Business Intelligence|7 Steps for a Killer Business Intelligence ResumeTechnology is leaping every moment, and businesses are getting smarter by acquiring new technical measures. Business owners are continuously hiring business analysts who can transform their decision-making by using advanced technical measures.

According to a recent study by Zippia, more than 104,208 professionals are currently employed as business intelligence analysts in the United States.

Considering the market competition, these numbers are not expected to face a downfall anytime soon. Hence, if you are considering business intelligence as a career option, you will see numerous job opportunities in your professional journey.

To be prepared for future endeavors, all you need is an upgraded skill set along with a well-versed business intelligence resume. You can leverage any online platform like Udemy or Coursera to upgrade your business intelligence analysis skills.

In terms of resume building, you can follow these below-given steps that will help you in building a killer business intelligence resume:

Outline Your Resume

You can outline your resume in the most suitable format per your experience and professional journey. Out of the plethora of resume formats available online, we have chosen three exemplary resume formats that you can use to start your resume building process:

  • Chronological Resume Format
  • Combination Resume Format
  • Functional Resume Format

The functional resume format is only suitable for people having a career gap in their professional journey. All the other business intelligence aspirants and professionals can use either a reverse-chronological or combination resume format to build a killer business intelligence resume.

Showcase Key Skills in Separate Section

Skills in your resume enhance its quality and effectiveness. Hence, it will be better to make a separate section for your key and technical skills.

You can use bullet points to showcase your skills and highlight them in the resume to get the recruiter’s undivided attention.

Use Bullet Points to Mention Professional Details

Recruiters these days do not spend much time on a resume as they have numerous applications piled up for one job opportunity. Hence, we recommend you use one-liner bullet points while mentioning the professional experience in your resume.

Moreover, we also advise you to address cause-effect relationships while crafting the professional experience bullet points in your resume.

Highlight Important Metrics & Keywords

Numerous companies these days use ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to filter out unsuitable resumes. Hence, we advise you to use industry-specific keywords in your resume to parse through the ATS without any hurdle.

Furthermore, you can also highlight these keywords and other essential information to clear the recruiter screening round.

Endorse Your Educational Qualifications

Educational qualifications will play a vital role in portraying your eligible image in front of the recruiter. You can make a separate section to showcase the educational qualifications in the resume. Here are some details that you can mention while framing this section:

  • Name of Degree
  • Name of Institution
  • Location of Institution
  • Grades Obtained
  • Enrollment & Graduation Dates

Add Your Certifications

Adding certifications to your resume will provide you bonus points in the recruitment process. Certifications will also help you beat your competitors and increase your shortlisting chances. You can follow the below-given format while mentioning the certification details in your resume:

Certificate Name | Name of Issuer | Date of Completion

Write an Easy to Read Resume Summary

As its name suggests, a resume summary comprises a brief of your entire resume. It highlights essential information, and recruiters also read it for a few seconds. Hence, we advise you to use easy-to-read language while writing your resume summary.

Key Takeaways

Take a look at the key takeaways of this blog:

  • Outline your resume in a suitable format according to your professional journey
  • Showcase your skills in a separate section to highlight them appropriately
  • Use one-liner bullet points to mention your professional details
  • Highlight profile-centric keywords and the essential information to get through the ATS
  • Endorse your educational qualifications to showcase your academic background
  • Add your certifications to get bonus points during the recruitment process
  • Write an engaging summary to hook the recruiter and highly the essential information of your resume

These guidelines will help you build a killer business intelligence resume. Wishing you the best of luck in your upcoming job searching process. May you get the job you desire.

A Guide to Preventing Your Online Business From Losing Money

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Online Business|A Guide to Preventing Your Online Business From Losing MoneyEven successful businesses start to lose money from time to time, and this can send the entire company into panic mode.

Although financial difficulties are a challenge that you might face occasionally, in order to reduce their frequency and to prevent your online business from losing money frequently, here are some of the top steps that you can take.

Increase Operational Efficiency

Increasing the operational efficiency of your business is paramount if you are going to prevent your company from losing money, as a lot of human errors can lead to customer upset, which can reduce the likelihood of them buying from your company again, or recommending you to others. Therefore, you should do all that you can to increase the operational efficiency of your business, including employing the use of metrics, technology, and particular actions that can increase employee motivation.

Increase Pricing

If you are beginning to notice that your online business is losing momentum, this could be due to the fact that your pricing structure is not correct. For instance, inflation could mean that you are not now covering your supply costs within your pricing, or other companies might be offering better prices than you, which can make shoppers more reluctant to buy any products from your brand. Therefore, you should constantly review your pricing structure to ensure that it still works for your company and that it is in line with other companies within your industry.

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Reduce Costs

It is also important that you look at reducing your costs and expenditure, even if you are not currently losing money, as this will enable you to get larger profit margins and to ensure that you are financially secure if your sales begin to slide. For instance, you should look at cutting your utility bills and even the cost of your office or warehouse space. You might consider using a shared office space, or encouraging your employees to work at home. You might also look for different suppliers who can provide you with the same products for much less, and consider cutting down on the amount of software that your brand uses.

Decrease Waste

You should also find ways to decrease the amount of waste that your company produces. For instance, you might decide to reuse excess materials, or only invest in the stock that you need. In terms of paper waste, you might decide to make your company fully digital, especially in terms of documentation, as this will prevent you from having to store vast amounts of paper documents. This will then prevent you from leaking profits, and can prevent you from having to spend excessive amounts on waste disposal.

Preventing your online business from losing money can be difficult. However, there are many steps that you can take to reduce your expenditure and ensure that your company does not get into financial stress before too long, and this will ensure that your business is able to go from success to success in the future.

What You Need To Know About A Small Business Loans In 2022?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Small Business Loan|What You Need To Know About A Small Business Loans In 2022?Although small businesses are the backbone of our economy, many of them find the lending process to be difficult and stressful.

When it comes to obtaining small business loans, rising businesses are frequently turned down. In theory, obtaining funding should be difficult—lenders are in the business of making money, not charity. Even so, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chances of securing a loan.

Here are a few things to know about small business loans in 2020.

  • Consider the lender’s perspective: why should they lend you money? Treat your loan application as if it were a job application. You’ll need a terrific application instead of a great résumé. This entails assessing your financial condition and determining what you may use as collateral, which could include your home. A businessperson who performs the latter demonstrates that they believe in their product or service.
  • Other important criteria include cash flow and credit quality. Also, dress properly; if you appear to not require the money, you’ll be more likely to receive it.
  • Determine how much money you truly require. Businesses frequently ask for more money than they require, and the more money you ask for, the more likely you are to be rejected.
  • Make sure you learn from your mistakes. Determine why a lender has rejected you. Address that deficiency when you meet with your next small business loan.
  • Those with bad credit who have receivables in a business-to-business context can utilize them as collateral. Alternative lenders, such as so-called Internet lenders, will offer higher interest rates but have looser criteria in general.
  • Working with Small Business loan lenders should always be a consideration—in most circumstances, it should be your first choice. Many firms mistakenly believe they are ineligible. Low interest rates and long repayment durations are common features of small business loans. It’s also worth noting that just because one small business loan lender rejects you, it doesn’t mean all of them will.
  • You should be aware of what you’re getting yourself into. This entails learning the loan’s annual percentage rate (APR). You should be aware of the costs as well as any prepayment penalties. Become a well-informed shopper.
  • As previously said, online lenders may be able to give cash (and fast) if other options fail, particularly for people with poor credit. Aside from increased interest rates, Internet lenders are known for onerous terms and lack of transparency, so if you choose this way, make sure you actually need the money and can pay it back.
  • Small banks are more likely to be helpful than larger banks, which prefer to work with larger clients.

Conclusion:

Small business operators use business loans to improve cash flow, buy pricey equipment, and expand their businesses. Business loans are usually less expensive than credit cards, and they don’t force you to give up a stake of your company to an investor. Even if your credit score isn’t perfect, alternative business loans are simple to obtain. Before looking for a business loan, consider how much money you’ll need, what you’ll use it for, and how long you’ll need to repay it.

Alternative lenders are critical for small businesses looking for financing that may not be available through a typical bank. These lenders offer a variety of loan options, including merchant cash advances and equipment finance.

How to Use an Online Consultant

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article | How to Use an Online ConsultantWith all of the information that is available at our fingertips, it can be a bit overwhelming to determine what is actually applicable to our business needs. While some people do not mind researching for hours on end to find an answer to their company’s issue, others want a more efficient and custom option that allows them to quickly get the information and advice they need. Because of this, there are online consulting firms that give people the answers they need. Online consultants can help in a variety of ways.

Marketing

Have you ever wondered how your business could better utilize social media platforms like TikTok or Facebook, but did not know where to start? An online consultant with expertise in digital marketing can provide information and advice on how to begin your adventure with social media marketing. This is valuable for a multitude of reasons, but especially because many social media users do not have all of the information about how to properly leverage social media before they actually start using it. Having an online consultant can help business owners avoid embarrassing and unsuccessful social media marketing campaigns before they start.

Finance

Is your business growing faster than you know how to manage? Talking to an online consultant with a financial background can help you determine how to best utilize and maximize your funds. From creating different investment accounts to further building business credit, this type of consultant can help you have better control and understanding of your business funds.

Leadership and Human Resources

Do you want your business to have a better organizational structure than it currently has? An online consultant with expertise in human resources can help your team be better aligned and have more synergy through projects and team goals. From advice about training practices to helping your leadership better understand their management style, an online consultant can help give you the tools to make your organization more efficient and professional as your company grows.

From marketing to human resources and every business function in between, an online consultant can provide efficient, educated and customized advice that is tailored specifically to your business needs. Having an expert work as a resource for your company allows you to focus on what your strengths are and utilize the advice you have received to give your business the tools it needs to thrive.