Don’t underestimate the small stuff: A cargo as small as one kilo can change your business.

Cardo has recently been retrenched from work when the company he has been with for over 13 years recently closed because of COVID-19, but just like any aspiring businessman, Cardo embraced this as an opportunity. Instead, he pursued his long-time dream of putting up his small motorcycle shop. 

To grow his shop, Cardo realized that he needed to entertain customers located not only in his community, but also in other areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Cardo’s business, just like many businesses, is no exception to shipping challenges as smaller cargoes tend to be more expensive if shipped in small quantities.

Mara, a proud business owner of an online shop selling bottled sardines business, has been shipping her food products from Manila to Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and other parts of the country using air freight for a long time, even before the devastating economic effects of COVID-19, hence it comes as no surprise that Mara shipped her cargoes by air freight as the lead time has always been faster than the other options.

Sadly, at the onset of the pandemic, air freight was not available and became unpopular for a while which made Mara scrambled to get cheaper options when air freight fees soared exorbitantly. Her e-commerce business was not spared when flight schedules were consistently disrupted by on and off cancellations mandated by the IATF.

A common issue amongst shippers.

Cardo and Mara are just two of thousands of business owners who find shipping in the Philippines complicated. This can be traced back to the nature or profile of their transactions. Cargoes that are not bulk tend to be less desirable to many courier service providers due to low profit per transaction also considering that smaller quantities tend to be more demanding, requiring more attention, and resources than bulkier and more profitable cargoes. 

Business begins at the atomic level.

Just like all businesses, no business started big. All businesses, like Mara’s e-commerce business and Cardo’s traditional shop, started small, or at least those who have started big started somewhere small. Even Philippine-based exporting companies started by sending sample sizes to their partners, the same way importing companies started buying small quantities of cargoes from other countries before purchasing orders in bulk. 

Hence, there is no rocket science in understanding that small stuff can bring gigantic changes, this also applies in managing cargo where cargoes as light or small as 1 kilo can bring tremendous value to anyone, or any business at the starting phase. A cargo, be it a sample or small beginning orders, as small as 1 kilo can change lives. Therefore, importance must be given to cargoes even as small as 1 kilo.

Starting with smaller cargoes removes your fear of failure

Life as a business owner is interesting because of the uncertainty running a business unfolds each day. Moving towards our goal of expanding, or growing a business to unknown territories or physical locations may be a daunting task for anyone as this move entails a number of risks. This creates a huge amount of anxiety, and fear of failure. Start small by moving cargoes one kilo at a time. 

With the right selling or marketing strategies, and a robust logistics network that can help you move smaller quantities, you can win in new territories and grow your business to nationwide level where you can eventually ship in higher volume or quantities of cargoes.

We hope that these insights help you shed more light on how to begin moving at national scale. You can start by checking out how Ernest Logistics Corporation, a domestic and international logistics solutions provider can help you in your way to becoming a national-scale business. 

We will be launching and offering less than truckload trucking service that aims to support shippers to move cargoes as small or light as 1 kilo from Manila to parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, opening initial routes from Manila to Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.