Spotting and taking advantage of opportunities

Yesterday I had a massive truck load of wood chips delivered (about 17 cubic yards).

I only need a one or two cubic yards right now but I will use it all in the next 6-9 months.

But since we live close to a school, it would be impossible to get a load in a few months. All of the street parking gets taken up by teachers and parents while school is in session and these deliveries can't be pre-scheduled to a weekend.

As summer progressed I saw an opportunity to get a load delivered. Empty street. Lots of open parking. Decent weather.

I just have to move and store the excess until it's needed.

You'll come across opportunities like this in your Shopify store.

Perhaps a supplier is moving warehouses and you can get a deal on a large, bulk order. Maybe one of your contractors had some time open up unexpectedly. Maybe an equipment dealer is closing out last years models at a deep discount.

Whatever the reason, if you can float it safely, these kinds of opportunities can save you time and money. e.g. don't go into debt by stocking up on inventory but maybe carry a few more weeks of the popular items to protect against a supply-chain hiccup in the future.

Using Repeat Customer Insights you can see long-term customer trends and product trends that can help you forecast if an opportunity would be worthwhile. But if you don't have a plan, you might have to pass on opportunities that could have been profitable.

Now I have a few weeks of moving this wood chips, but I should be set until next spring.

Eric Davis