How to stop your e-commerce business taking over your home
Boxes of stock in your living room, business documents all over the kitchen table, packaging piled in your spare room… Does this sound familiar? While many people embark on a home business to get more time freedom, it’s astounding how easy it is for your business to take over your home. To help you establish a better work-life balance, we’ve pulled together our top tips and tricks to keep your e-commerce business growing without drowning in it.
1. Go up instead of out
Your initial instinct may be to store your additional stock outwards, filling up your empty floor space, but have you ever thought about stacking it upwards? The higher you can go, the less floorspace you will lose to your growing e-commerce or home business. Investing in higher shelving or secure racking will free up floor space while also making it easier to navigate the room and limit the risk of you tripping over the endless piles of stock.
2. Know your numbers
Based on your previous sales data, keep track of which products sell best so you don’t have piles of slow-selling stock taking up valuable space. Remember to make sure you reevaluate your stock levels every few weeks as you may discover certain products start selling better than expected, in which case it’s not too late to restock.
3. Get a secure parcel delivery box
Deliveries of supplies and packaging that never seem to end can throw your home into utter chaos. This not only adds to the clutter, but it also has an impact on your ability to operate efficiently and complete orders. Fortunately, a simple solution such as the Penn Parcel box – an innovative safe parcel delivery drop box – tackles these difficulties. There will finally be room to breathe in your home as the storage compartment keeps multiple packages out of sight until it’s convenient for you to deal with them. The Penn Parcel box also protects your deliveries from both thieves and the elements, it’s a win-win!
4. Plan for seasonal peaks
If your business has key seasonal cycles, plan ahead for the anticipated peaks. For many businesses, this will be the two months leading up to Christmas, with other seasonal peaks including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, summer holidays and the back-to-school period, depending upon your product range. Solutions to help you cope with the increased amount of stock could include persuading a friend or relative to loan you their garage, spare room or garden shed for a few weeks, or even renting short-term space. With the pandemic driving an increase in remote working, more commercial space providers are now offering short-term rentals, which could help support your business from taking over every corner of your home without committing to a year-round commercial rent before you are ready for it.
With the majority of e-commerce businesses starting from the kitchen table, you’re likely to reach a point in your business’ growth where you’re swamped by stock and packaging. We would love to help take some of the chaos away from you. If you’re interested in a Penn Parcel box or would like more information about the product, please get in touch with our friendly team on 01424 429 641