“My business is entirely online,” Denise said. “I don’t have a storefront. I don’t see customers in person.” Because the Boston entrepreneur sells collectible dolls and figurines, she thought the economic pressures of the pandemic would be the end of her small business. Instead, to her surprise, sales took off. “Apparently some collectors decided that this was the time to indulge their passion,” she said with a laugh. “I have been busier than ever.”
Denise’s business mentor recommended outsourcing her shipping needs to a packing and shipping service near Dedham. “What I am paying for here is the shipping boxes and packing materials, yes,” she said, “but more so the expertise. Ever since I started working with the packing and shipping service, I haven’t had a single complaint about broken products. Shipments are getting to customers faster than when I mailed them myself. And I really love the tracking options that let me know for sure that shipments made it to customers safely.”
Getting products shipped safely to her customers has been a bit of a challenge. “When I say these items are fragile, I mean they’re super, super breakable,” she said. “I tried packaging products myself using bubble wrap, foam inserts, you name it – but the amount of breakage I was experiencing was much too high. This is a small niche market I’m serving. It’s important to keep my reputation strong.”
There is a cost associated with working with a packing and shipping service, but compared to the costs of needing to replace broken products, Denise considers herself to have made the better bargain. “I ran the numbers and to hire someone specifically to package and ship orders would have cost me a lot more money than working with the Dedham pack and ship company. And honestly, it saves me from the stress of being responsible for an employee. I don’t need that level of tension in my life right now.”