The Benefits for a Drinks Brand of Outsourcing the Back Office
Do you want to run from pillar to post, getting your business through all the hoops? Recognise that something might have to give, because it’s impossible to do absolutely everything.
If you’re a drinks brand owner wondering whether to outsource your back office, you’ll need to consider whether the cost justifies the benefits, one being that you won’t have to cover all bases yourself.
What is a back office for the drinks industry?
For an independent drinks brand owner, it’s everything except sales and marketing, although – more on that in a second... It’s:
Product information management
Stock control
Distribution
Order capture, admin and processing
Invoicing and credit control
Client liaison
Although we say back office doesn’t do sales and marketing, it comes as a by-product, because of the experience of the team and their knowledge of the market.
Who an outsourced back office is suitable for
The short answer – every brand owner.
Particularly for small independents who don’t have capacity to cover all the functions, or struggle with the regulatory admin that’s such a feature of the drinks industry. And for those who want to concentrate on other areas of their business.
Main reason you’d opt for a done-for-you back office
The most obvious reason is cost-savings. Outsourcing is not necessarily expensive and you acquire a whole lot of expertise for your business that no one person could bring.
Cost is not the only benefit!
Outsourcing gets expertise to the heart of your business. There are many barriers to entry for brand owners; having experts supporting, who know the industry can be a real step up.
For example, there’s no minimum order quantities with a trusted distributor. They have full access to the network so the barriers are, which makes it really easy for brands to break through.
Experienced back office offers security
It’s about oversight. Stock management, costs per unit, it’s all in an easy-to-understand format, helping you to manage the business and avoid the pitfalls of not fulfilling regulations.
Help when things go wrong
As warehousing, logistics, and back-office people, we work long hours, from early morning until the evening. We don’t close our laptops on 5pm on a Friday. I wish! Things can go wrong, and sometimes do, and we’re here to sort it in that unlikely event.
Active stock management increases sales
When customers place an order with us, it’s for dozens of other brands. Our team have a working knowledge of those orders; they check stock levels and suggest other brands to try – this is active stock management. We know ordering patterns and pricing cycles, when portfolios are being reviewed, tenders coming out. This is all of huge benefit to a brand.
Help to stay on the legal side of things
Don’t underestimate how these can go wrong. An outsourced back office will take care of:
Checks and measures
Labelling
False claims in marketing
Inappropriate marketing
Why a brand owner might not outsource their back office
If a brand owner is happy with their geographical range and know that’s all they want to do or they’re a small-scale batch, or hobby, producer who is never going to scale-up then happy days! You don’t need really a back office in that situation. But usually, brand owners want to expand.
The alternatives to outsourcing
The costs exist however you run your back office. Brand owners must look at all their options and at some point in the growth journey a choice has to be made: go it alone or employ more people? Outsourcing is the alternative and the gap they may need to fill.
Trusting an outsourced back office
Professional back-office support will help any business through its transitions, it doesn’t compete with them on any level, only facilitates their success.
What brand owners should think about if considering outsourcing
They should think about where their business and brand currently are, and its direction of travel.
If travel is flat – fix the problem first
If in a growth phase, outsourcing can facilitate that
Understand costs against benefits
A back-office provider will go through a cost-benefit analysis in detail so both parties can understand the potential. We want to be part of their clients’ success story as much as they do, so it’s not in anyone’s interest to proceed if the costs don’t work.
It comes down to what you want from life…
Do you want to run from pillar to post, getting your business through all the hoops? Recognise that something might have to give, because it’s impossible to do absolutely everything.
For those who want to ‘do life’ AND grow their brand, we’re here.