Madison Wellman is a business opportunity specialist for Worcester nonprofit RCAP Solutions, who provides free small business business assistance. Reach him at (774)239-9783 or mwellman@rcapsolutions.org.
Updated: January 24, 2022
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Surviving the supply chain chaos
By Madison Wellman
For small businesses across America, and around the world, the last two years have been, in a word, chaos. Shutdowns, mask mandates, reduced capacity limits, consumer anxiety, and of course an economic downturn have made the traditional way of doing business impossible, or at least unsustainable for millions of entrepreneurs.
Now, uncertainty in the global supply chain is further complicating matters. Shortages of intermediate components are preventing leading global manufacturers from bringing products to market. The shortages are affecting everything from automobiles to consumer electronics. Even titans of industry such as Ford and Sony are not meeting the needs of their customers in the same prompt fashion they could before the coronavirus pandemic. (Ask anyone who was excited for the launch of the Ford Bronco or has nearly given up on getting a PlayStation 5, like this author).
It’s easy to see how marketplace trends like our shared supply chain woes could have far-reaching long-term negative impacts on the U.S. economy, especially for the smallest players. But is this moment truly as hopeless as it seems? Are we on the precipice of an economy poised to worsen? Or does the pain felt by manufacturers overseas represent the opportunity of a generation for small American manufacturers, aspiring entrepreneurs, and daring investors?
In September, the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach announced a record-breaking backlog of 70 containerships waiting to be unloaded. The congestion made headlines across the country as delivery timelines for products ordered by both consumers and businesses grew ever longer. Massachusetts’s own Merrow Manufacturing saw opportunity in those frustrating circumstances. That same month Merrow announced it would be producing level 1 and 2 isolation gowns – critical personal protective equipment for nurses and doctors fighting the coronavirus pandemic – domestically, with domestically sourced materials. Today, Merrow is the largest producer of USA-sourced PPE.
A reader of this column may be asking themselves how they could identify such opportunities for their own small business. Most entrepreneurs do not have the same resources at their disposal as Merrow Manufacturing does, nor do they typically have the expertise. So how can a small business or aspiring entrepreneur identify these new opportunities and develop a plan to pursue them?
One place they could turn is RCAP Solutions’ Open for Business Program. Since 1969 RCAP Solutions has been proudly serving the families, communities, and small businesses of Massachusetts and throughout the northeast and Caribbean with a wide variety of services.
The new Open for Business Program provides live, interactive webinars; self-guided, online workshops; and unlimited one-on-one consulting – all completely free to any small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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