My Business is Growing and I Need Shipping to Grow With Me
By: Chris Facey
Tags: Shipping, Logistics, Freight Shipping, Business Strategy, Shipping Service

Are you this guy?

As your business grows, the scale and complexity of your shipping operation MUST grow with it. And you have some decisions to make.

Decision: literally “to cut off”.

If you own or run a business that requires shipping freight to operate, at some point you will run into the ‘grow or die’ problem. You are really good at creating something and selling it, but some things, like freight, just fall outside your area of expertise. Maybe you just don’t like dealing with freight or it seems like a necessary evil.

This post will help you clarify what’s happening and what your options are.

The Problem: ‘Grow or Die’ Principle

If you’re not growing, you’re dying

— Tony Robbins

First, please remember: GROWING PAINS ARE GOOD!

Your business has to scale in order to thrive. In order to scale, you have to take risks and do things differently. When you take risks and change things, there’s going to be growing pains.

🎉 Congratulations, you’re officially getting to the next level! Celebrate stepping outside your comfort zone and scaling something new.

Look for these telltale signs that it’s time to scale up shipping:

You can’t keep track of your shipments in transit You used to follow up with customers after a delivery but you ‘don’t have time for that’ anymore If there is an issue with a shipment it chews up half your day fixing it Customers are asking for special requests for pickups/deliveries and you would rather ignore them. You’re getting hit with extra fees and “accessorials” that you don’t know or want to understand. You have freight invoices with issues on your desk that you don’t have time to address Shipping feels “out of control” If you identify with any of these issues, it’s time to make a move.

So….what can you do?

Your options: Automate, Delegate, Hire or Outsource:

There are 4 main options when it comes to shipping. Depending on your situation, maybe you don’t need to make massive changes, maybe one of these solutions, other than hiring, will work for you.

Automate: I have a weekly running challenge with myself to try to automate just 1 task. It can be anything, big or small, but if it takes up any amount of time it is fair game to be automated. Ask yourself:

Is there any part of shipping you can automate to reduce the burden enough?

In many cases automation can be done for free with tools like Zapier or IFTTT.

Delegate: You can delegate shipping to a current employee. Maybe you have a family member or friend who comes in to help out occasionally and they can take this on. Or maybe you know a great free-lancer that you already work with who can help.

Hire: You can hire a new employee who’s responsibilities include shipping. If you have the cashflow this is a great solution, be sure to also consider payroll taxes, benefits, etc. It’s worth exploring the below options first to see if this is necessary.

Outsource: If you can’t automate, delegate or hire it out, there is a strong case for outsourcing. Consider reaching out to a freight broker to explain your business and see if some or all of your shipping operation can be lifted off your shoulders. You might even find that not only are you free from 85% of the work, you could actually save money doing it.

For example, here are some shipping processes I’ve regularly handled for clients which has removed 85%+ of the legwork and freed up their time to move on to bigger and better things more uniquely suited to their talents:

Vendor Inbound Shipment Management Program Answering client calls to setup shipments (dedicated phone#s available) Resolve mid-shipment issues (mis-routes, re-bills, hot shipments) Reconsignments Rule-based carrier selection Blind Shipment Setup Those are just a few, the possibilities are endless.

Freight Broker vs traditional Direct-to-Carrier

All LTL shipments are handled by traditional LTL carriers. But, in recent years freight brokers have become major players in freight shipping. This is because freight brokers offer unique advantages over going direct to carriers.

Willingness to take on customer operations

Pricing Power

Flexibility of having numerous carriers

Single Source Contact

Customer service — a set of pro eyes on your team

Single source invoices

Multiple mode shipping (LTL, Truckload, Volume, Partial, Expedite, Air, Small Package, etc)

There are still some advantages to going direct to carrier. In unique cases, putting all your eggs in one basket can lead to local operational advantages like dropped trailers or late pickups that you might not qualify for without that tight, one-to-one relationship. Maybe your rep can get a charge dropped here and there or you only ship in 1 major lane that is aggressively priced with that carrier. It’s smart to consider the advantages of both.

If your business is growing and you need shipping to grow with it, go down the list (I recommend you go in that order) and see what might work for you. There is a case for all these approaches but for the healthy, cash strapped business owner or manager, connecting with a trustworthy freight broker to outsource should be a top consideration.

If you’re growing and would like to explore a partnership, let’s talk! For more information check out my website (freightsavvy.com) and let’s schedule a time to talk about your business and find out what operations I can take off your hands AND how much money you can save in the process.