Taking Stock

The Disrupted Supply Chain

The Good Old Days

Remember when you did a Google search for a phone you liked. Discovered Amazon or Jumia decided who the best seller would be and decided to make the purchase. 

Clicked on Buy inserted your Card Details or Paypay address, selected DHL or FedEx for delivery, and had your phone in a week.

You could do this over and over again including buying a simple piece of jewelry all the way from China or Europe and receive it in a week. Life was GOOD.
Most traders involved in import business have become accustomed to traveling to do business, especially China from where they select the goods item by item, then stay a little longer to ensure the goods are loaded on the ship and then travel back to prepare cash for tax payments - this was the Normal way of doing Import business.   

What Happened

Corona Happened - from the first report of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 and the eventual shut down of Chinese cities as the pandemic began its global onslaught. 

This has been the greatest disruption we have witnessed in this century as Lockdowns affected factory production, shipping lines were halted as ships could not get full loads, cross country trucking became the center of geopolitical debates with countries sending back drivers for testing positive for Corona Virus and the eventual halt of fragile economies and small businesses. 

Have you Considered?

We have a "New Normal" - that means the old is past and we have to Unlearn what we knew and quickly start learning about the New Normal. Online Orders from China or other suppliers may be a thing of the past.
For Import and Trade business that depended on travel to view, select and then purchase may be a thing of the past now as it's going to become near impossible to get an airline flying to your desired trade destination in china from an International airport that has been closed until further notice.

Debates are beginning to emerge about what we need to be doing as the new normal begins to sweep over our economies from delayed deliveries to stockouts

Case Study

Safety Importers and Traders is a thriving import and trading business focused on trading goods sourced from China from plastic ornaments, clothes, jewelry, watches, and many others. The owner has been accustomed to traveling to china through Dubai to physically visit factories in china where he selects goods based on his understanding of the trends in Kampala. He has been very successful at this business over the last 25 Years.
When Corona started spreading across the globe, he was due to restocking his replenishing stock in the warehouse. He had secured his Visa and was preparing to travel to China when his favorite airline Emirates started canceling flights to his source town in china before he had the occasion to work out an alternative.
The Ugandan government decided to close the International airport to any travelers - this was a blow as he had already paid for the air ticket and hotel. His 5 containers full of goods were to be delivered to the port of Mombasa within a few weeks but the shut down of China also affected the shipping lines which also suspended the delivery of containers. The containers finally arrived but out of season as most of the goods included Christmas seasonal items.
Safety Importer and Traders had an Overdraft with a local bank that they are struggling to repay, including now overdue rent for the now empty warehouse and shop on a strategic location in Central Business District. This has crippled their business considerably as the MD cant travel to china to select his stock, therefore, it may be the end of his traditional business as we know it for a long time to come.  

Lets Innovate

The new normal requires a new approach to the way we do business. Save My SME is a marketplace for SME Owners to find professional help for FREE. We specialize in connecting SME Owners with Professionals to help them address the challenges of the "New Normal"

The Safety Import and Trade case study was addressed by focusing on their eco-system, addressing questions how they were doing things and how it all needs to change by taking a 360 Degree view of their supply chain to firstly address the mounting Debt situation (drafted letters used to communicate to the bank about the situation), renegotiated the rent situation have remapped their business model by identifying gaps and opportunities through their ecosystem.
Given them a new business approach that they are considering of local manufacture of the goods they previously imported.  We are confident that in spite of the disrupted supply chain their new business model may enable Safety Import and Trade to convert to a profitable local manufacturer.

We then IDENTIFY - MAP and CO-CREATE a strategy by identifying gaps and opportunities within a business ecosystem.

Save My SME - is a marketplace for SME Owners to find professional help for FREE.