The Secret To Every Established Business’ Continued Success

Written by Marc Adrian

Business is good, and that’s great. While the influx of customers is heartening, the rapid change and new challenges as your growing business pick up pace is also a sign of a greater need for manpower and expertise ahead.

Given the current economic climate in the Philippines, certain policies brought about by the Tax Reform For Acceleration Law (TRAIN) will also have a far-reaching impact on businesses, pushing the benchmark for customer satisfaction even higher.

Sure, you want to cultivate new opportunities, but not at the expense of your current client relationships or the stellar overall status quo of your business.

What if there is a specialist who can do it better than you in sustaining your growing business?

LBC is a trusted name in the Philippines since it was founded in 1945 when it comes to ensuring your documents, mail, parcels, boxes, and cargo of all shapes and sizes get delivered, a job they have excelled in for over 70 years,

Besides making a difference in lives and communities, did you know LBC is also a trusted partner in helping your growing company overcome challenges with their business solutions? To weather through the economy, here are 4 challenges that your business must overcome.

Challenge #1 Sustaining growth

Yes, growth is positive for a business, but sustainable growth is what you should be aiming for, especially if your business has just taken off.

Legendary American civil rights activist Martin Luther King had famously remarked in one of his many inspirational speeches that “whatever you do you have to keep moving forward”.

It stands to logic that without continued growth and progress, one cannot talk about improvement and success either.

There are various reasons why a business should grow, and the motivations might be different from one company to another. However, universally, it allows a company to profit more, spend less, and hold more power and influence in their market.  Who doesn’t want those, right?

Growth is equivalent to expanding client base, bigger operation, and bigger revenue, and this can only be achieved by expanding your reach.

Challenge #2: Controlling costs and overheads

Profit is the main goal of every business. And to help gain profit, businesses must optimize cost.  One of the most common means of optimizing cost is by cutting corners on operational expenses. It may seem like a logical move to optimize cost, but if not done strategically, it may compromise the quality of your services or products.

For the supply chain and manufacturing business, transportation requires a huge allotment of expenses. Transportation of products and supplies isn’t a fixed cost and can quickly eat up a big chunk of your operational costs as your business expands.  Not to mention, it can involve warehousing and logistics, tasks that are crucial but should not be micromanaged directly by the business.

Since it’s extremely expensive to create your own logistics and warehousing department, it would make more sense to hire a specialist for the task. You will also save a lot of money on overheads.

Why set up your own teams for public relations, advertising, IT, or warehousing and logistics when you can just outsource it?

Challenge #3: Ensure reliable service

Part of a business’s customer experience is the reliability of its services.

According to a Harvard Business Review report on maintaining customer loyalty, research shows that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.

However, when it comes to delivery and distribution, untoward incidents involving the delivery of your services can be inevitable at times, especially if a third-party provider is required for the process.

For big enterprises like a supply chain business, the value of a transport logistics solution in enhancing customer satisfaction and service cannot be overstated. Choosing a reliable partner can spell a world of difference.

Challenge #4:  Get your goods and services to bigger markets

Establishing business operations outside your borders will make it possible to produce and sell into international markets, bringing new partners and customers into the fray.

As many traditional business models such as retailers and manufacturers expand operations beyond national borders, multinational transactions can become the norm and pose new distribution and delivery challenges.

Leveraging on offshore opportunities might appear easy – simply hook your business up on the internet. The challenge, however, is the delivery of your services and good overseas, coupled with a handful of technical matters like meeting global sourcing requirements. Finding the right logistics partner with global coverage can make a big difference in your expansion plans.

How can you overcome these challenges?

Every successful business has their own core competency, and the most successful business leaders are aware that this is where they should put their full focus.

Aspects like logistics that do not fall under their business’ core competency but requiring a delicate touch should be handed over to professionals who can do it better.

Logistics have always played a strategic role in big enterprises like supply chain businesses and manufacturing companies. Among retailers and wholesalers, they transcend inventory management and transportation to include one of the most critical factors in business success—location in relation to markets or sources of supply.

Moreover, the demand to provide the optimal customer experience continues to escalate, and companies must continually seek out better ways to deliver customer satisfaction and retention. Many companies find that value-added logistics services help give their supply chain a competitive edge.

Make a move!

In the Philippines, when it comes to logistics, LBC is a household name that’s known for their top-notch delivery. They don’t just cater to consumers and small businesses, their range of services now includes business solutions for medium to big businesses.

Comprehensive business solutions for expanding businesses
Logistics	● Air freight: documents, parcel, and general cargo. ● Sea freight: Full Container Load (FCL) and Less Container Load (LCL) ● Intermodal: Roro ● Land freight: Trucking services, motorized services/
Cold Chain	● Reefer van ● Reefer truck
Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier	● Importation ● Exportation ● Clearing brokerage
Warehousing	● Picking and packing ● Sorting and kitting ● Inventory management ● Bundling ● Value added services
Specialized logistics	● Reverse logistics ● Cross docking ● Crating ● Document return ● Cash on delivery (COD) ● Freight collect
Ecommerce	● Cross border ● Cash on delivery (COD)

Why should you outsource your logistics needs?

Outsourcing warehousing and distribution of your products could be the right answer for established and expanding businesses looking to realize efficiencies and cost savings. Businesses make the same decisions in other functional areas – like payroll processing, advertising services, and computer maintenance.

In this aspect, it’s the same as asking whether you need an IT department of 20 people or simply contracting it out – scaling up in times where special projects are being executed and down when demand is less.

You don’t need an in-house warehousing and distribution

With an outsourced third-party warehousing and distribution solution that’s pulling resources when you need them, and in the quantity that you need them, you’re always right-sized. Yes, it is possible to have your capacity shift with your business needs. When you outsource this side of your business, it will be easier to align expenses with your revenue and business activities.

If you’re a business manager in a large company, outsourcing warehousing and distribution services to a third party provider like LBC can make good sense. The challenge? Investing the time to explore a cost-benefit scenario that accounts for the real costs of warehousing and distributing your products in-house.