Owning an e-commerce food business comes with many challenges when starting out. Along with building a customer base and figuring out shipments, you must have the proper food supplies and ingredients to keep the business flowing. Once you're off and running, it's important to start looking at potential growth. Expanding your business blindly may result in all kinds of problems. This is why it's a good idea to seek outside help like a strategic sourcing company. These companies can supply you with various resources that make it easy to expand and can help you save money along the way. Use the following three methods for planning to help you connect with strategic sourcing companies and get the assistance you need to properly expand your food e-commerce enterprise.
Food Ingredients
As you look to expand your business, you may also seek new food suppliers for specific ingredients. For example, if your food products contain fruits or vegetables, then you may need to find a farm that can provide you with enough food and inventory to keep up with your needs. Scouring the area and negotiating different price points can become a huge waste of time. As an alternative, you can seek strategic sourcing services to help with your company. The workers can contact different farms and help broker deals to get you the ingredients you need at affordable prices.
As your demand rises, you can seek deals from multiple farms to ensure you are properly supplied when the items are needed. The contacts they make can set up deals for multiple years so you do not need to worry about going out and finding multiple suppliers in the future.
Food Supplies & Packing Materials
Along with the ingredients, your business may also need to expand the number of supplies that you currently own. Strategic sourcing companies can connect you with print and product companies to supply you with your food supplies and packaging. For example, you can have bulk orders placed for special packing materials, custom-printed food wrappers, and boxes to deliver the items in. Food supplies may include pie pans, wooden pop sticks, or special trays for items like candy. The deals can be set up to handle multiple orders throughout the year or as-needed for your company. This will allow you to have just the right amount of items without being overstocked or understocked as your business expands. You can help the transition go by smoothly without getting in to debt or running short on resources.
Seasonal Items
As you run your food business, you may notice that your orders fluctuate based on different seasons. For example, if you sell healthy school snacks online, then your orders may increase towards the start of the school year and decrease near the start of summer. If this is the case, then a strategic sourcing company can help set up deals that work with the different seasons. This includes production, delivery, and the set up of software to help facilitate information between your company and the suppliers.
This type of sourcing service can also be applied to different holidays. For example, you may have a special food product that is only released during the Christmas season. A sourcing company can help set up an annual deal with a supplier that gives you the extra items during this time. As you expand, you may be able to set up more holiday items for your inventory. This will give you the supplies needed to keep your traditional business going while supplying some extra treats for the holidays.
As you prepare to expand, making a meeting with a strategic procurement sourcing consultant can be the first step in planning.
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