What the USPS Mailing Changes Could Mean for Your Business

Betsy Brottlund — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:08:26 +0000

If you have a business that relies heavily on mail, you may have one less day to reach your deadlines. On March 30, the USPS formally asked the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to allow deliveries to occur Monday to Friday only.

According to a press release sent out by the USPS, “The Postal Service does not take this change lightly and would not propose it if six-day mail service could be supported by current volumes. There is no longer enough mail to sustain six days of delivery.”

With Congress debating the subject now, it seems most of the PRC feels this step would further hurt the USPS and could actually, “further erode mail volumes and harm the agency.”

DM News goes on to report that “the Postal Service lost $3.8 billion in its 2009 fiscal year, and its leaders have projected a net loss of nearly $7 billion this fiscal year.” This could be due to more and more people communicating electronically.

If your business sends out mailings, you may need to streamline your efforts to ensure you get your mailings out in due time. One way to do this is by implementing a postage meter in-house. Postage meters are a great option because they can save a lot of time and money for your business.

Because you don’t have to go to the post office, postage machines allow you to stay in the office and get more tasks done. They also print out the exact dollar amount for your postage—which means no more rounding up postage costs.

If the USPS does indeed get their wish, and Saturday deliveries are halted, what will this mean for post office traffic on Mondays? It could increase traffic at your local post office, taking away time you could be spending doing something else. This is where postage scales can really help out the small business owners and home based businesses.

We will all have to wait and see what happens, but for now you should be thinking ahead of the game, and plan all mailings accordingly. Even if you don’t work on Saturdays, your Friday mailings may be delayed a day or two. Implementing a postage meter could help you get your mailings out quicker, keeping your clients informed and happy.

Can Cutting Seconds Cut Costs?

Heather Schuck — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:12:44 +0000

As the old saying goes, “Time is Money.” Big retailers such as Gap, Limited Brands, Office Depot, Toys R Us, and the Meijer grocery chain are all jumping on this bandwagon as they try to squeeze as much profit as possible out of the upcoming weak holiday shopping season. (Read more here from the WSJ, http://tiny.cc/P1nuS ) While small businesses might not have the same budgets as these large retailers when it comes to launching operations and performance systems, there are still many opportunities for you to improve your bottom line on your own. Instead of just relying on big changes that may be unrealistic or too expensive to enact, shoot for making several, small changes in your operations.

Step 1: Make a detailed list documenting your production, processing, or shipping procedures

Step 2: Brainstorm ideas to shorten or simplify each one of those steps - without comprising quality or control of your final product

Step 3: Test your new procedures to ensure that they will indeed save time without causing any other unforeseen repercussions

Step 4: If the new procedure improves your operational efficiency, congratulations! If not, keep brainstorming.

Here are a couple examples of time-saving strategies to get you started:

Instead of shipping small items in boxes, use padded envelopes (save time by not having to set up the box and they’re cheaper to ship)
Re-organize your inventory so that the top-sellers are on the first rack for easy access (don’t just keep everything sorted alphabetically for the sake of neatness-instead focus on efficiency)
Don’t drive to the Post Office to ship packages, schedule a free pick-up
Set up instant messaging for employees to improve communication times (using the group feature will also allow group collaboration within seconds)
Eliminate “double-entry”, instead focus on creating systems that are fully integrated (re-entering data is a waste of time and increases the risk of errors)
Save time on accounting by using online banking to schedule automatic bill pays and request e-bills (some banks will even let you deposit checks via email/fax)
Limit interruptions, instead of always starting/stopping tasks because of calls, random emails, or an occasional door-to-door salesman, set a routine to keep you focused (for example, only check emails in the morning, return phone calls in the afternoon, and require all visitors to be scheduled)