Supply Chain Management : Acquiring Suppliers and Streamlining the Supply Chain

BEFORE READING THIS WATCH THIS VIDEO Click Here!         An important part for any business is the acquisition of suppliers and contractors ; they help to maintain a business by supplying stock, supplies and services.  There are a few important factors to consider while selecting suppliers such as ; shipping costs and time, duties and other customs taxes, as well as what the supply requirements of the business are.

Product Oriented Business

        Businesses that have a high amount of product sales need regular replenishment from suppliers.  Depending on what the product is; it may take a number of suppliers for one finished good, or perhaps the good is completed by one supplier.  These can be acquired through speaking with business customers and other similar businesses in the industry, as well as researching on the internet and industry databases.
       Shipping costs will increase depending on the size of the product, example; a small product with high volume minimizes shipping costs per unit, so it can be purchased from a greater distance, whereas a large product will have a high shipping cost per unit so it would be wise to have it made close by.
       Duties and customs taxes are different for each type of good; this information can be found at customs websites for each country.  If a business is supplied domestically customs are not an issue for supply-side, but a business being supplied over foreign borders should be concerned with the duty levy rates for their goods.
       The supply requirements of a business are important to determine which suppliers can meet volume and production time requirements for the product.  Some suppliers specialize in short run time for small quantities of product, whereas others have a longer time requirement and production minimums.  With multiple pieces from different suppliers for a product to be completed, it is important to streamline their delivery for minimum wait times and stocking costs.  Choosing the mix of suppliers is unique to each business, with similarities in industries, but differences for each stage the business is at.
      A good resource for sourcing supplies is global trade websites such as TradeKey (http://tradekey.com) and Alibaba (http://alibaba.net) ; browsing these types of sites can provide information on global market prices at different quantities, displaying possibilities for future growth and production.

Service Oriented Business

      Businesses which offer a service will likely not require as many suppliers to complete a product which they sell.  The difference is service oriented businesses may require a greater amount of outsourcing for administration purposes and other departments which can be easily outsourced to third party contractors (ie. web programming, advertising and service design)  Also, not unlike a product oriented business, these service firms require marketing materials for promotion.
     These third party contractors and marketing materials can usually be found locally, as well as online.  Search for marketing materials in a search engine, also a good resource for sourcing contractors is E-Lance ; (http://elance.com) it is a resource for freelancers and businesses to connect from all over the world, any type of business service can be found here.

Streamlining the Supply and Value Chain

    Optimizing workflows and supply chains can maximize value in a business by lowering costs due to stagnant inventory and disorganization.  Having supplies and services delivered in a timely and complete manner can increase the efficiency and value of a business; by acquiring the right suppliers and contractors a business can run effectively with little disturbance.  The correct mix can be found be spending time researching different resources and trying different combinations and practices.  Also by adhering to industry standards, which can be learned in business practice, interacting with suppliers becomes more simple as a business becomes more similar to the norm in ordering and logistics.  There is a lot of potential value in an established business, it can be propelled further with a solid supply chain and effective outsourcing.

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Business Planning - Business Action Plan: Complete Projects Effectively and Efficiently

       The following is a business planning tool which I have designed to help complete projects for a business efficiently and effectively.  Use this tool with a new business idea and its projects to help advance market positioning! I call it a Business Action Plan

Business Action Plan

1      Purpose – Ex Ante summary

Summarize the purpose of a project in a few sentences. What is the business trying to achieve in the short to medium-term? What is the focus of this project.

2      Objectives – micro goals

In order to achieve the purpose of the project some goals must be established.  Three to Five goals should be set that fulfill the ultimate purpose.  Sub-projects can me be to more easily measure the requirements and effectiveness of each project, instead of one convoluted project which may confuse elements.  The objectives which are created are the potential outcome of sub-projects.

3      Purposed Tasks – projects required to complete

To complete an objective as well as sub-projects, tasks must be completed.  Depending on the type of project and business, these tasks can differ greatly.  Imagine what is to be completed; how will it be initiated? How will it be mobilized? How will it be carried out? What is the conclusion of this project?  These are the sub-projects which reach the short to medium-term business objective.  List all relevant, most importantly potentially effective, tasks that meet objective requirements.

4      Requirements – requirements for projects

Each task that is set will require resources, whether it is time or raw materials, these will be needed to carry out each task.  List the tasks required for the project, followed by what resource, service, and time requirements will be needed for completion.  Before a project is carried out the resource and budget requirement can be estimated using market prices and wages.

5      Budget – budget requirements and outcome

Using information from the requirements of each sub-project, a budget can be built to estimate the potential cost of the project.  Create a budget using estimated costs and revenues of the projects.  Depending on the type of project, the forecast for the project should display a positive return; there are ways that externalities of the project can be included in forecasting.  If it is a cost-based project, the results of a campaign, or other intangible result, can be measured using different methods.

6      Conclusion - notes

Summarize the purpose and objectives of the action plan; a statement about how this project will affect the standing of the business, or how it will be advanced can be made.  Any other pertinent notes reviewing the action plan should be placed here.

Join an Ad Network or Publishing Network - Earn Revenue With Your Website

EARN REVENUE ONLINE THE EASY WAY

Join the Viral Ad Network - Earn some revenue with your web-space, join publishing networks and ad networks to turn your traffic into revenue for your business.

Viral Ad Network is on of many ad networks available - http://viraladnetwork.joinvan.com/about

Est. 2001

We've been doing this for over a decade. We've been involved in publishing, content creation and online advertising since 2001. We know that the Viral Ad Network has to work for both publishers and advertisers: we've lived both sides.

Our Philosophy

Good advertising deserves a good audience. Although the internet offers unique opportunities that traditional advertising cannot, growing masses of online ads are making it increasingly difficult for yours to get noticed. That's where we step in.

Our Passion

We love online video, and like to immerse ourselves in as much memey goodness as we can. This inspired us to curate our Viral Video Charts, partnering with top industry magazines The Drum in the UK and Ad News in Australia.

We also run #Kittencamp; a monthly-meme-meet for web loving ad industry types, where we chat memes and drink free beer. Check out the KittenCamp tumblr to get involved and see when the next event is.

Crystal Clear

We're on a constant mission to provide a clear, honest and transparent service. We're proud of the work we do, so we want to talk about it and show you what we've done. As IAB members, we are continually evolving with the laws of the web land and providing a safe service for advertisers and publishers alike.

Michael Porter's Five Forces Model - Competition and Market Entry

Source

Porter's Five Forces Model was developed by Michael Porter between 1960-70; it is a tool to analyze the competitiveness of a business.  It is a useful tool to analyze competitors as well as the business itself, also useful to understand potential competitors when entering a new marketplace or industry.
Applying these factors to an existing business may help it fix some flaws, and develop a clearer plan.
Rivalry Among Existing Firms - These factors are essentially the industry standard; understanding the industry standard will help a new business develop proper practices for dealing with customers and suppliers and interact efficiently in the marketplace with little friction.

Threat of New Entrants - What factors determine whether or not new firms would like to enter a marketplace?  Demand in the marketplace can drive up prices making industries in short supply attractive for new investment; this is one factor.  Understanding many of these conditions and their state in the market may help to reveal attractive new businesses.

Supplier Power - Suppliers are an important aspect to a business which require a lot of materials or services to operate.  These determining factors may affect a business more or less depending on the type of business it is.

Buyer Power - Similar to supplier power, customers of a product or service may have significant influence over a business.  Customers may be other firms which have the potential to purchase a supplier if is considered economic.

Threat of Substitutes - Substitute products and services can become much more attractive to customers depending on the state of the economy; given local price levels and wage rates, or other factors.

Using an existing or new business idea, develop an analysis using Porter's Five Forces Model;  it may help to reveal new ideas, or a new understanding of a business. 

What an Economist Does; Topics on Economics for Business

    
     I'm not sure what economists really do; there are so many differing opinions, schools of thought, and types of economists.  Basic understanding of economics can be very beneficial for starting a small business and maintaining it.  Some topics include; macro (national and monetary economics) and microeconomics (economics of a firm), cost-benefit analysis and econometrics (statistics).

Small Business Marketing - Effective CPC (cost-per-click) Advertising, Using Facebook and Google

       With CPC advertising a business can effectively reach new customers by directing advertising at people interested in your product or service.  Because there are so many users on Facebook and Google data can be aggregated and analyzed easily for advertisers to display products and services directly to customers that might be interested.  This is very useful tool for small businesses; based on the amount attention you would like your ads to receive, as well as the budget you are willing to spend (it can be infinite $$$), you can generate additional traffic to a website and higher sales conversion to interested consumers.

The process is essentially the same for both Facebook and Google, but there are some slight differences.

Facebook -

Facebook uses interests and demographics to target advertising.  To place an ad you must choose which interests, age groups and geographic locations; there are a number of tools for adding interests and locations.  Once these have been chosen, there are number of options for how you would like to place your ad.  These are described in detail on the Facebook Ads page, but essentially you can either choose to receive more likes, or attract more attention to the page in general. Once this is complete a budget can be set by day or month, a suggested bid per click is given which may be followed or not (lower bids are ineffective, as Facebook has calculated a minimum, higher bids achieve slightly better results) and the duration of the campaign.  There is a detailed application for managing ads and viewing their performance; check this regularly to makes changes to ads and see how effective they are.   Facebook regularly updates their advertising program, making it easier and easier to promote posts; make sure that it is understood what these changes are, and use the new tools provided.

Tips :
- Promote a product or service directly, do not promote random posts from the business' page.
- Provide discounts or other promotional devices in advertisements, these draw a lot more attention from purchasing consumers
- link to the main website if applicable
- short and sweet ads! get your point across in recognizable, keyword phrases.

Google - Google Ad-Words -  http://adwords.google.com

The process for advertising with Google is very similar.  Instead of using interests, Google uses search terms and web analytics.  Using the Google Keyword tool (which has recently been updated) search for keywords from a Facebook page or website for the business or product.  These keywords can be used to target advertisements to the consumers that would be interested in the business, and show up when these people are searching for relevant keywords.  Choose keywords that describe the product, set a budget per click, or overall; Google is very good at automatically determining an effective budget and CPC.  Check back often to Google's advertising management page to determine the success of an ad, results on Google Ad-Words are quite fast!
  Using Google advertising also increases a business' relevance in the search database; this means the website or Facebook page will show up higher in the results of a search which include keywords applied to the website.  SEO (search engine optimization), key-wording, and increasing the search relevance of a website can be a very complex process, there are many experts online that provide this service.  Advertising success on Google to increase sales conversion on a website is largely dependant on SEO and keywords to drive traffic to a website.

Tips:
-Watch the budget, Google advertising expense can get out of hand
-Try different advertising strategies

Good luck implementing a new CPC advertising campaign!

Small Business - Social Media Marketing, Online Advertising

The age of social media is upon us whether we like it or not.  Almost everyone uses some form of social media at some point in the day; by having your business displayed amongst these media outlets more potential customers can discover your business.

Depending on your business social media may offer a new way to generate customers and build brand prestige that was not before possible.  A business can exist based on exposure through social media without ever physically interacting with consumers.  If a business cannot sell a product directly through social media it can definately benefit by exposing itself to a larger audience potentially generating contracts.

There are a few widely used form of social media that should be used ;

Facebook - Facebook has a tool which is meant to promote businesses and communities ; Facebook Pages.  It is a very handy tool for a small business because it can also be a free website for customers to collect information about a business.  Facebook also has their own advertising program which can be effective if implemented correctly.  Another article will speak about correctly using cost-per-click (CPC) advertising.

Twitter - Twitter is a widely used tool for updating your following with regular statuses.  Connecting with other businesses on Twitter , having users share your updates , and generating extra exposure are all benefits of Twitter.

Pinterest - Pinterest is an amazing tool for a business with a tangible product.  Users share their favorite things in every category ; especially new products!  As well , Pinterest has the highest sales conversion of any social media tool!

 This means generating attention on Pinterest is most likely to generate additional sales, so this tool is an obvious choice.

Instagram - With Instagram it is incredibly  easy to connect with other users, share a product or service to a wide but specific audience using hashtags, connect with suppliers and customers that you would never find anywhere else.  Also using pictures and text a lot of information can be conveyed quickly; users may be drawn by the picture but read advertising in captions.  It can generate buzz very quickly as widely followed users can easily promote unknown users.

Other considerations - Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+ and Blogger, Yelp and Foursquare for retail locations

Stay posted for more on small business, business planning and starting a new business!