I managed to collect the samples I require for a client who uses around 7 of these rolls daily which works out to slightly more than 2 tons per month and is a very decent account.
Last Friday we had dinner with my packaging business partner and discussed a plan of action moving forward. The last thing I needed to hear was that we are going to find some extra head aches locating raw material due to the Middle East crisis.
We purchase locally from the refinery as the plastic chemicals are by product and we also obtain from a supplier in Dubai. The direct impact on businesses using this material is expected to see a cost rise of 20-30% in the short term which is never an ideal scenario, but this will be the same for every manufacturer and supplier.
The crazy thing is we shut down the Johannesburg side of the business for the very same reasons when we had lockdowns as raw materials were scarce. My clients at the time were established clients, but were not 10 or 15 year old clients who took preference. I walked away as I felt it was unfair to let my clients down and could not guarantee them the stock. Heart breaking for sure as this was years of work, but I can at least hold me head high by not losing the clients through failed promises.
Those clients I have decided to not try and pick up again unless they reach out to me and this is starting with a clean slate. We already have a handful of clients, but that is not a proper business and need to add as many new clients as possible over the coming months. This is easier said than done as corruption is always a worry when talking to buyers who are receiving back hand deals.
This time around the difference is I have some very good contacts who will help me fast track this process. The commercial property leasing agent was one of the people plus now the shipping agent who handles the shipping containers and these are the contacts you need getting the inside line that opens the doors. Having a contact name is what cuts down the time taken and this tends to work better with a higher success rate than phoning cold and trying to work out who the right person is.
The good thing about our partnership is one client could equate to 3 or 4 sites in other regions of the country so one deal could be very profitable. My partner handed me a client he services in Durban who also has offices in Johannesburg and has just started being supplied. This is an extra client I have to call on but the hard work has already been done and how we reciprocate business. My list of clients I am seeing the business will benefit in Durban as I know they have branches there too, so we share what we do and why this actually works out quite well. Trust between us is never an issue and we have known each other for so long we know each other better than ourselves. The both of us work very similarly and know what to do to make things happen.
As much as I hate the idea of growing the business again I know how to do this as this has already been done before. This is good though and at least this is not doing something through guesswork. Still sucks though.