by Lina Martinez
Taking your retail business to the next level will take growth in your infrastructure. If you are increasing the number of retail outlets in your operation, then you will now need central warehousing, transportation, and a head office. With one or two outlets, it is possible to manage these facilities from within the stores.
Logistics
Moving your stock from the warehouse will need two things, drivers and vehicles. When it comes to hiring drivers, you will need to consider several factors. Getting someone with a clean license is going to be necessary for insurance purposes. Having someone with the right type of license is important. If you need a heavy goods license holder, ensure you search for someone with this skill. A multi-drop driver that can handle stock for several locations would be beneficial too.
Having the right vehicles is crucial. You’ll want to make sure that you have reliable vehicles that are adequately sized for carrying the amount of stock that you need. Owning your vehicles can be a costly endeavor. You may need to check out truck finance brokers. Not only will you need to replace your vehicles every couple of years, but you will also need to maintain them regularly. Taking them in for regular services will be vital, especially if they will be doing a high level of mileage.
Another option when it comes to vehicles is rental. By leasing your vans and trucks, you will get to replace them when needed. They will be serviced regularly as part of your rental contract, and you will reduce many of the complications involved in vehicle ownership.
Warehousing
The first thing to consider when it comes to warehousing is your location. Having somewhere that it is central to all of your units is vital. Keeping down the cost of fuel involved in transportation will be critical. Think about getting an easily accessible warehouse close to a motorway or main road. If you are thinking about expanding further in the future, take into account the areas that you might want to move into and how accessible they will be for these locations.
The size of your warehouse is also significant. You will want the room to expand. However, you will need to make the best use of any available space. Think about where and how your stock will be stored. You may need pallet truck access so keeping your inventory stored on one level, or having lifts will be helpful. You will need to fit your warehouse with a considerable amount of sturdy racking. Work out how much you can fit in, and where it might sit.
Whether you choose to locate your head office within your distribution center is a call that you will need to make based on the available space. It will certainly make life easier and save you a considerable amount of money.
You will want to manage all of your stock control functions from the warehouse, and having the stock located nearby would be handy for your buyers should they ever need access to the stock personally.