That Was Fast
This is how quickly things can escalate as this was one of the clients I visited on Wednesday last week and they reached out this morning having run out of packaging materials. I would have thought they would have stuck with their current supplier especially as this is now urgent having run out completely.
Normally I would have stock on hand and will only have that option by the end of this month for the just in case moments like this. Kind of worrying that no one noticed they were running out and would bring the business to a stand still. They will be receiving a delivery on Wednesday this week so this is a great result. They are an established logistics company who have no financial worries so they are a very good account to pick up.
I have promised a 24/7 delivery including public holidays mainly as I know no one lese offers this service and I would like to be the supplier they rely on. The hope is they do not phone on Christmas Day, but if they do I am happy with that because keeping the client is the goal here. If everyone else is at a similar sort of price it is the service that makes you stand out and becomes the selling point.
My son is pretty chaffed as he is the one who will eventually be servicing these accounts we pick up and we should pick up another 2 this week. The initial target was adding another 5 to our client base and I am confident we will land all 5. This is not difficult as you sell yourself first and then the product second sells itself due to the price and back up service.
The entire process from initial contact to landing a new client can take around 3 months which is why you have to be focusing on seeing and contacting new potential clients weekly. Next month being December is not a good month for contacting anyone as everyone in the logistics industry is working extremely hard and speaking to suppliers is not a priority. I do think adding 1 new client for every week of the year is doable and will shift focus onto achieving that for 2026. The other business is running well and I am not needed for now so at least I have the time to now set my son up.
Selling for me comes naturally and it is something I am really good at so I struggle when others who have the contacts do not land the orders. My sales lady in Durban has had zero sales and I contacted her this morning to give her a motivational talking to. She knows everyone and her contacts are like a whose who in the logistics business so she should be so busy. I will give her until the end of the year until I start asking for some of the contacts so I can speed the process up.
I find it frustrating knowing she has very little money and she should be rolling in cash and she just needs to land one account before she sees what I already know. With the people she knows she should be earning anywhere between $5K and $10K monthly without having to sweat and if she really pushed it $20K would be achievable. This is decent monthly income and a lack of self confidence is holding her back.
Employment these days is not easy to come by and finding a business that is self supporting bypassing all the company political nonsense is the smart move. She has applied for 3 positions and is still unemployed and firstly she is the wrong age being over 50 and she is white so she has very little chance. Setting herself up independently working as an agent for myself is her only chance of finding employment.
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I am also starting construction work in my city in my country in a few days, so all the people who want to work will come to us and work. This is the effort to work with people in a good manner. But still, we have seen that when the laborer is getting more benefits than anyone else, He leaves.
very good and responsive customer service
Congratulations on another business win! Definitely sounds like you know what you are doing. My wife has started her own business a couple years ago and despite her 20+ year career as a corporate executive she finds her own business a very challenging endeavor with sales being the hardest part. She was a VP of Marketing, then executive VP of Marketing and Sales and General Manager and still being the CEO of her own business is the hardest thing of all.
Yes I am sure this will be a challenge and with her experience it will work and must just give it the time to succeed. They say play in your pond and this I believe in because you have the experience and knowledge knowing exactly what to do. Having your own business is challenging because it is personal. Just curious what is your wife selling?
She is selling her coaching services. It is a unique offering aimed at MedTech executives, she helps executives become better executives. She went from $0 two years ago to around $60-80k this year...
That is really good going and must not expect too much too quickly. Starting from scratch is extremely stressful and difficult and takes time to grow from the ground up. I would have said 3-5 years for any project.
Yes, I think she is doing great, but she wants it faster even though she is beating her own goals that she set :)
She sounds driven and focused so she will achieve her goals and what sets her apart.