Tips for Helping Your Small Business Survive Long Lead Times

Key Points:

• In order to have consistent inventory during global supply chain shake-ups, companies have diversified products by finding suppliers and manufacturers that operate within the United States.
• Fetch RI has seen a lot of persisting supply chain challenges, including long lead times and delayed supply shipments.
• The company has made changes in purchasing procedures by doubling and tripling the amount of time it expects for a product to arrive after ordering it.

Commentary:

Through the pandemic, small business owners across the country scrambled to keep up with ever-changing mandates and are still dealing with supply chain challenges that plague virtually every industry. Adjusting operations has become necessary for most businesses to stay alive, and Johnna Devereaux, the owner of Fetch RI, a Rhode Island based holistic pet boutique and supply store, shared with MarketScale how she pivoted during these trying times and what learning lessons can apply to other entrepreneurs facing long lead times.

Abridged Thoughts:

The last year and a half has proven to be very difficult for small businesses. Specifically in our store, we’ve seen a lot of issues with products coming in and delivery times. One of the things that we’ve done to pivot with this challenge is to change our purchasing procedures. We have basically doubled, if not tripled, the amount of time that we’re taking from ordering a product to when we’re expecting it to arrive. We’ve also diversified our products and looked into different areas that we might not have otherwise looked in to find Made in the USA products, products by crafters, small businesses, looking through different avenues, different channels than we normally would have.

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