Whether you craft your own homemade jewellery, offer luxury handbag repairs, or you want to take your eBay selling passion to the next level, there will come a time when you have to take delivery services seriously. Rather than sticking the occasional letter in the letter box, if you are making regular deliveries, then postage and packaging will become a major business expense, and one that you will need to manage carefully in order to reduce costs, improve customer retention levels, and even enhance your business branding.
It is possible to make a success of a home based business, and some of the most profitable and successful organizations in the world started from the loft, bedroom, or garage of their founders. While it might have started out as something of a hobby, there inevitably comes a time when the business needs to make the move from the garage to the next level, even if this is only figuratively speaking.
Creating handcrafted jewellery, decorating cakes, or buying and selling retro games consoles all have one thing in common – a need to deliver goods to market. If you are crafting cakes for people in your local neighbourhood, then they will usually come and collect, but once you have a broader reputation, your customers will expect deliveries.
Using a courier service like TNT Direct means that you can save money when compared to using Royal Mail, and if you package carefully and using the most appropriate packaging materials then you can further reduce these costs. By passing the savings on to customers, you can give yourself an edge over your competitors, or you can keep the savings for yourself in order to maximise profits.
Once you start taking deliveries seriously, you will be able to negotiate deals and contracts with your courier. This way, you may even be able to afford to offer free standard delivery while charging a reasonably nominal fee for express and overnight delivery. Not only is this convenient for your customers, but it can give your business a true professional edge to its brand.
As well as the delivery service that you use, you can also consider the packaging and content of the packaging. Add a light flyer to light objects, include a business card for repeat business, and have your packaging materials branded to match your business and organisation. Big businesses invest millions in effective branding, but most start with these relatively simple processes.
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