Break in supply chain

[TerraRhapsody]

Oh my!
After a busy holiday period, I've sent out a legion of items, but I can't help but think I would have sold more things (KNOW I would have sold more things) had my suppliers actually supplied me!
I ordered more items from one company over 5 weeks ago and have still not had the goods
I ordered the same items from the only other seller I could find two weeks ago with express shipping and I still haven't received those goods either!
Argh- it's driving me mad- I have so many new designs in my head and so many more items to make and I can't do it because I'm waiting on these supplies! I never thought I would be so desperate for an order to arrive!

Do you have supply problems? How do you overcome them? Do you have a list of sellers, shops and companies to fall back on when you get left down? How do you cope with large numbers of orders and manage to re-stock?
I have a terrible feeling that if my shop does better in the future, stock and supplies will certainly let me down! >.<

[Former_Member]

My lotion base supplier gets a bit behind this time of year - I thought I'd gotten myself set up back in November., I ordered four gallons of base ten days before Thanksgiving, figuring that would set me up, and I could order again right after. Nope. I ordered on the 13th - my supplies didn't show up until the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving. I had more than twenty orders sitting there waiting for the lotion to show up. I ordered more as soon as that order showed up, and some other base from another supplier, and I still had to wait. I'm all caught up - now. I guess I need to stock up next October and not wait until November.

And here I thought I'd done well to get myself taken care of. LOL

[TerraRhapsody]

Erin-
Oh no! That must have been so annoying! Especially with all of those orders waiting. It sounds like you planned ahead so well too! It's so annoying to be let down by a supplier- I certainly need to have a big contingency plan and source some more sellers if I'm expecting a lot of sales in the future
I guess I must blame myself to some degree for my predicament, as I didn't imagine I would need all these supplies and didn't expect the popularity of some items, but then I didn't expect an order to take well over a month to arrive. I thought I would have the items in weeks ago, and get to work when I had time off from my day job, but alas!
We'll be better prepared next time! I guess it's always good for a learning experience.

[Former_Member]

This is a very interesting post... because businesses have been trying to solve this problem for a very long time. Not just little businesses like us but big ones too!

This happens to all of us I think, because we can't just go out and spend a fortune getting everything we think we might need.

I am actually interested in other perspectives as well, because the way I solve it is to buy everything in big batches which I am sure isn't the most cost efficient way to deal with it.

[Former_Member]

Exactly - LOL. Best laid plans, and all that. Oh, well. hahahah Once I got the stuff in, I was a machine and got the orders caught up pretty quickly.

And of course, now I'm out of jars (but those are on the truck to be delivered today). :D

[TerraRhapsody]

Fingers crossed those jars arrive, Erin! You have some really gorgeous items too, I must say.

Merry- I think you're right- I perhaps wasn't expecting it so soon with my tiny tiny jewellery business! I'm always looking for that happy medium of buying enough to both have enough and keep it a low cost bulk buy, but also not so many that I can't sell them for a million years! Argh!
I just hate being let down and left wondering how many customers I lost out on because I didn't have enough stock in for the Christmas season. My sales have at least doubled since last year, and everyone seemed to be going mad for about 4 or 5 items in my shop- totally wasn't expecting that at all!

[Beaderbeads]

I have several suppliers never had a problem. When my customer's order from me I ship out asap within that day if possible.
You never have enough supplies, Hope you get your supplies soon.

[Former_Member]

I am having supply problems too. I don't order them, usually just walk or drive to Joann's and pick up my supplies, but my problem is that I don't have enough money to buy all the supplies I need, or they're out and I have to wait for the next shipment. I am overflowing with sales right now, and can't seem to keep up!

Can't wait for it to slow down.

[Former_Member]

I've been waiting on a ribbon order for 6 weeks! They says it's delayed because of Storm Sandy, and I am sympathetic (my family lives in Jersey) but the Christmas season is OVER and I don't need those colors anymore.

Tyler, some day you will have enough cash flow to order bulk supplies, yay!

[TerraRhapsody]

Beth- I'm glad you have reliable suppliers! I've just had one of my supplies arrive today- I'm so thankful!

Tyler- I hope things slow down for you. It's so difficult to work when you have supply problems. The stress of the situation is terrible too! I hope things start looking up for you on the money front soon. Cash flow can be a real cow. I try and have several back-ups and contingency plans for money- in both my business and in the rest of life, such as the food shopping etc. Fingers crossed for things cooling down and giving you a bit of a rest!

Janet- It must be so frustrating for that ribbon! At least you'll have it in for the next holiday season! Or you might find another use for it as well. Weather is an annoying problem, but understandable, as you say. All supply problems can be understandable, I guess, but that doesn't make them less annoying!

[QuirkyUniverse]

I thought I was good on supplies then ended up selling more this holiday season than I dreamed possible. I'm still waiting on all my supplies as well. I actually have several suppliers that sell the same or similar items that I use a lot of. To be fair, it isn't my supplier's fault I didn't get them in a timely manner, according to tracking the P.O. is taking forever to get them here. I don't think the mail even came yesterday.

[TerraRhapsody]

Well done on the extra sales! I had more than expected as well, hence the problem!
And yes- it is the postal service rather than the seller, you're quite right.I guess some of it is sods law that the really important stuff goes missing or takes ages to arrive! Fingers crossed your supplies arrive soon

[EmilyMagoneArtist]

Oh man I'm glad I'm not alone in this! I am waiting on a silk shipment right now that was supposed to be here on the 10th and I am going nuts! This was my first Christmas with the shop open and I totally didn't expect to get as many orders as I did (yay!) and thought I was sufficiently prepared. I will never let my supply get below a certain level again! Ack!

[TerraRhapsody]

Emily- Hooray for lots of sales! Noooo for the supply problem! We've both underestimated the numbers of expected holiday sales. Damn those late supplies! I hope they arrive soon- best of luck!

[Former_Member]

I have had an issue with supply this season too, and I really thought I was prepared. I revamped my whole store and purchased the things that sold well at art shows and in the galleries, but Etsy buyers really threw me off this year, requesting more custom orders than in previous years! Also, I find China very difficult to deal with, and although I would like to buy local--that means I have to pay retail and then I am not making what I need. Anyway, China has so many issues with shipping from untrackable packages to slow outport and lost shipments, its crazy. I have to order in September at the latest to keep up with the holiday chaos... but in the end the stress is worth it because I support myself through ART and that was my dream :)

[Former_Member]

Being a supply shop, I can understand how you all feel!

One of the things that I do each year beginning in July is start to estimate exactly what I'm going to carry for the busy fall season. Its during July and August that I will review what's 'hot', what's 'up and coming' and which of my suppliers have the best deals.

I have some fantastic arrangements with my suppliers but there are times when some items will "take off" and my suppliers are out of them as well.

Since I deal directly with the manufacturers and place orders with each one on a regular basis (some even know my account# better than I do) I do get excellent service.

Even though I place at least 2 large supply orders each month to stock the shop, there is always something that is out of stock.

So far in December I've placed 5 orders for supplies and most have arrived within the 10 business days that were promised.

Many people who shop at their local craft shops (Michaels, JoAnn's, etc) will end up purchasing from me simply because I order from the same warehouses that the 'big box' suppliers do but I generally have the items in stock.

We learned a huge lesson during the first year we were selling our hand crafted soap dishes. We usually sold about 200 each fall during the 'busy' season until they were featured in a major soapers magazine a few years ago. That year, we were cutting every week for a month to try to keep up with the orders!

Now we make sure that when we go into the workshop to cut, that we cut a minimum of 1000 units at a time. Even with that, we sometimes end up having to cut during the super hot desert summers.

It really pays to have a great relationship with your suppliers and to order early.

[Former_Member]

I've been channeling Aretha Franklin

*chain chain chain* *chain of supplies*

:D Had to share. LOL

[TheSalvagedEdge]

I try to stock up at the end of summer. In July I start planning, by August I have my list and am buying. I haven't had any trouble with last minute US supply orders. I had to order more bags a couple weeks ago and they came fairly quickly.

[Former_Member]

i haven´t had any supply problems yet.i usually plan ahead a little and try to buy cheap leftovers from other people over the internet. i don´t get all the colours i need that way but the rest i buy in a little shop that is not too far away. they also don´t have all the colours but the shop owner always tries to get them as fast as possible, so i haven´t had any real problems yet.

[TerraRhapsody]

April- I know how you feel with items from China- While I try to buy local, I can't find some of my supplies I want from anyone else outside of China- I tested a few items from a few sellers around the world, and found a particular supply was much better quality, and I could only find 3 sellers of these items! Obviously, I need to do some more looking, or buy in a HUGE quantity and pray I can sell them all before I have to retire or something! Its awesome to hear you're supporting yourself with something you enjoy! I'm a way off doing that myself, but that goal seems that little bit closer! I just need to master getting those supplies! Plus a few other things, of course- I always have room for improvement!

[RainnRoseArt]

I order all my supplies online. I had a custom order waiting to be made with the supplies I ordered and it took them almost a week to get to me rather than the 2ish days after being shipped. I really dislike this time of year as far as the mail is concerned, everything is very slow.

[TerraRhapsody]

Crochetgal- it sounds like you've been rushed off your feet, but well done for keeping those supplies going and keeping items in stock! A skill I have yet to master. This is the first time I've actually been busy, and I thank goodness that I took a week off from my full time job last week (originally to do some chilling, shopping and getting my home ready for Christmas) to cope with the orders I had!
I'll certainly be ordering well in advance next year and making plenty of stock of those 'hot products'. I have to say, I didn't have much in the way of sales through the rest of the year, so there were a few tumbleweeds rolling through my shop, making it difficult to ascertain which items would be popular- hopefully next year I'll be a bit better armed! Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks :)
Congrats on being featured in a magazine as well- that is awesome!

[TerraRhapsody]

Marie and Barbara- So glad to hear things have been running fairly smoothly with you both! I hope your supply chain and local suppliers keep on being awesome!

[TerraRhapsody]

Devon- I order most of my supplies on the internet too- very few come from local shops, but that usually helps keep costs down- the disadvantage of course is the shipping times! You're very right- this time of year does seem rather slow. I think I'll need to do some very in-depth planning for next year!

[GrammaticalArt]

It is really tough sometimes. I actually deal with supply chain issues daily in my day job; I take that knowledge to my business haha.

It is good to always have backups to your suppliers. I have a couple of higher-cost ones that I order from if my "preferred" supplier is backed up and can't service me in time. So my first backup is the same quality, higher pricing, similar turnaround. If I am really in a bind and need to service my customers, I will go to a supplier with the same quality with much higher pricing for faster turnaround. I really do have lists of suppliers for different things -- it's a nice little excel sheet. Not very complicated, but it's nice to have everything located in one place.

I would recommend evaluating alternate suppliers when you're not as busy as the holiday season. Find out who supplies what, at what price, and what their lead time is. You can ask for some samples of their products (let them know that you're interested in moving your business to them). Sometimes you will get it for free and sometimes you will get it at a low cost. From this, you can see their quality of product and you can get a glimpse of their customer service. If you're happy with it, order a full-sized order and see if you're happy with the results.

Where it gets tricky is OOAK sellers because you CAN'T find the supply anywhere else. This is where you need to order as far in advance as possible. This may mean a 3 month lead time or more! It's always a gamble ordering stuff in bulk, so also evaluate how you would destash your excess.

That's my two cents! Sure, it may seem like overkill, but it really helps minimize your risk in times like these. :)