Category: business

Local Sourcing as an Option to Reduce Lead Time

An alumnus of Connecticut College, Jon Finneran is a sales and marketing consultant with decades of experience managing marketing plans for Fortune 50 companies. A resident of Easton, Connecticut, John Finneran previously worked as a marketing manager at Unilever, where he negotiated local sourcing programs with retailers to reduce lead time and increase Unilever’s sales.

Lead time is the amount of time between purchasing a product from a supplier and receiving it. It includes purchase order processing time, storage time when products ordered are kept in a warehouse awaiting delivery, and the time it takes to transport them to the customer.

Excessively long lead times present challenges to businesses. It means they may have to halt production or operational processes to wait for supplies, missing out on revenue and inconveniencing customers. To make things worse, they may be forced to make emergency purchases or carry extra inventory, incurring high supply and carrying costs. If a key competitor has a more efficient supply chain and can deliver products more quickly, it will add to a business’ injury.

Sourcing supplies locally is one strategy to reduce lead time. If a business has international suppliers, lead times can go into weeks. Therefore, the immediate purchase price savings advantages of offshore sourcing must be rationalized with the costs of inventory stock-outs to determine viability. Local sourcing decreases lead time and can be appropriate if it does not negatively impact product quality.

Three Strategies for a Successful Product Launch

A resident of Easton, Connecticut, John Finneran is an award-winning global marketing and sales professional with broad experience working with Fortune 50 companies. Previously a marketing manager for Unilever in Greenwich, Connecticut, John Finneran was responsible for creating and executing marketing plans and product launches.

Here are three strategies small business owners can use to build buzz around an upcoming product launch:

-Piggyback on industry events. You can attend industry events, trade fairs, and expos and market your upcoming product. If the press or industry influencers are in attendance, talk to them about your product and request mentions in their TV shows, blogs, and podcasts.

-Conduct a social media giveaway. On your social media pages, inform customers of your upcoming product and start a contest where users can complete specific tasks like share your posts or sign up to your email newsletter for a chance to win free products.

-Create a landing page and take pre-orders. Create a landing that introduces the world to your new product. Discuss why you made it, highlight its key features and benefits, and explicitly tell customers what makes it different from all other products. Elaborate on how customers can use the product and then invite pre-orders. This shows people that your product is real and gets them invested in its release.