The Most Inefficient Part Of E-Commerce Has Been Fixed

I'm just constantly amazed at how bad E commerce supply chains are. They're loaded with inefficiencies and probably you watching or listening to this episode right now of this show have a drastically under optimized supply chain. It is in my view the single place in E commerce where people have done the least work to make themselves better and more efficient. And therefore there is the most low hanging fruit. And so if you were a true supply chain expert and you were building a brand from the ground up, how would you actually do it and how would you build it? That is the question that animates and begins and runs through this conversation with Lara Guevara, the CEO of More Staffing and its sister company Move Supply Chain. Lara is like probably the deepest supply chain expert I've been around in E commerce. She lives in the Philippines, she's in China a lot. She understands that world really well. It's a two hour flight for her to get to Canton where a lot of factories are. Like there's a lot of deep experience there and Lara can bring all of that. She is starting an E commerce business and in this episode, which is sponsored, technically she just walked through her E commerce business that she's starting and how she's building supply chain for it. And it is way more detailed and way more thoughtful than what you thought of when you built your supply chain. I can almost guarantee you that. I know that because as I say in this episode, I'm also considering starting an E commerce business and I've gotten her help on my business. So listen to this episode. You're going to really like this. If you want to begin to think about how great supply chain thinkers think about their supply chain. Let's jump in with Lara Guevara. Lara Guevara back on the show. Probably the smartest supply chain person I have been around in D2C. Not pro. I mean not even probably you, just you. The more that I've worked with you, the more that I understand how your brain works. There's just nobody I've talked to who understands supply chain more deeply than you in D2C. I'm convinced supply chain in DTC is the most under optimized part of so many businesses. You told me a funny story. You said that when you get on calls sometimes with people who are coming to you for supply chain consulting, you love hearing about how bad their supply chains are. Is that right?

I mean it's actually very, very challenging. Like you feel alive hearing that there are problems to be solved as a problem Solver. It's like, I want to do this, I want to.

I mean obviously you want people to be successful, but it sounds like you just salivate when you hear like what is, what is like happening because these businesses, supply chains are so under optimized.

Yes.

Yeah. And so I just want. Let's take some time on this episode. The fascinating thing about that is you are working with me on a brand that I am building. I have not said much about that to anybody and we'll see how much I say in this episode about that. But I've started to kind of put some things out there. So I've watched your supply chain work. Like I've like really, really closely. I've seen exactly what your team does and it's mind blowing. Here's like just a little thing I'll see to people within the first week of working together with you and your team. Your team had contacted, reached out to 50 manufacturers for the product in a week. And I know like brands that have been around for years where like they have not talked to 20 and if not 10, I mean it's just crazy. So there's, there's so much more I could say and another 30 packaging manufacturers. So, so at some point along the lines, like I will definitely be talking more about that business that I'm working on. But, but for you, for you, you are also working on a brand of your own. And I think the sort of interesting thing to chase down here is like, how do you build a supply chain for a brand that you yourself are working on? When you have the level of expertise and that you have in supply chain, like, what does it look like to be best in class? Like, I think, I think if I'm, I'm building a brand, I know exactly what my Facebook ad account is going to look like when I build my mind for my brand, right? Like that's part of the launch strategy is I'll, and I'll be able to say like, here's exactly how I'm going to do the build. Here's exactly, I'm going to set the whole thing up because like this is, this is my bread and butter, right? So for you though, you know, among the many areas in which you, you have a lot of knowledge, I think part of that is the supply chain component. So, so maybe we start like say, say whatever you want to say about what the brand is and then, and then let's just start breaking down like how you've approached the supply chain there and what that is creating in your business and we can just kind of go piece by piece.

So before I start with the process and how advantageous for me it is to work on a brand while being a supply chain expert, I just wanted to give a brief background on how this brand, Vivirae, was born. It was actually from my journey as a cancer survivor and who has faced mental health challenges. And then these experiences combined with my background in supply chain management showed me a crucial gap in how do we support people dealing with their health and wellness journey. So I've experienced receiving gifts at the time and I experienced having the lack of material support for the treatment sessions, for example, or things when I was spotting cancer. So we transform. I aim to transform wellness gifting from a gesture perspective into a meaningful support. Like every product, every bundle and every service we offer is designed with real experiences in mind, ensuring that each gift provides practical comfort and genuine support when it's most needed and whatever journey you're in. So I know for sure, and you.

Told me something fascinating when you're at my house that I had never thought about, which was that people maybe gifted you like headscarves when you, when you were going through your cancer journey and you had lost your hair, but that a lot of them were like uncomfortable or something and that they were uniquely uncomfortable to you. And so it was a nice gesture but. And you appreciated it. You were not, you're not complaining, but it was just like. Oh. But like you understood that it felt a certain way on your skin that nobody else could really understand if they hadn't gone through it themselves. Yes, that was a sort of story.

Yes. When I saw. So you know, that a supply chain person or a sourcing person, when they saw a product, they will immediately check what material it is, size, what, what can be improved. So when I got the gift, it's of course, I was of course very grateful for that gift, but it's very different having that material touch a hairless bald head as compared to someone with hair. So I told myself that I'm not going to use this and I'll buy my own, not being with attitude in that. But I said that I will wear something more comfortable and I didn't find one. Everything I found online is similar to what I have received. So that's one major pivot moment for me that there is really a huge gap in this scenario. And it started from there and it continues until the very end.

Can we maybe, maybe it would be helpful to stay on that particular product for a second. I think it's sort of Interesting. Interesting one, because. Because if we do that, then we could say, like, so what? When you start to see that, let's just take that product, you begin to go pursue a better version of that product. So you said, you know, as a supply chain person, you start looking at the materials. I watched you do this with the product in the category that I'm working on, where I showed you an example product, and immediately you flipped over the product, and we're looking at the ingredients and going like, oh, that's easy to source. That's hard. You know, you just, you, you. You saw through the product to the ingredients of the product. You know, okay, so what did you. So you saw that these headscarves, these headbands were made out of what material? And then what did you do next? So, like, where did that. Tell me, like, give me the. Give me. Give me the sense of, like, what your mind did with that. And then. And then what you did because of that.

So I immediately checked the material. It is 100% polyester. And I also check the shape. It's a beanie. It's actually a beanie for the most commonly used term. But when I saw the product description in the website, it is definitely dedicated to cancer patients. So when I checked that and when we started working on a beanie at this point, I made sure that I have at least for additional materials with me that I have a swatch book with. So when I went to China, I really asked for a swatch book so I can have that feel of the material. I know on top of my head that cotton is a very good alternative for that. I'm not sure how it will transform into a beanie. So it's actually having the capacity to reach out to a vendor expert in this material and convert it into a sample, ask for sample, and then test it ourselves. Like, give it to someone that is experiencing that right now and telling us which of these materials is more comfortable is most comfortable. So it's using the best practices, or what I've seen is best for that product, which I think is the shape. So it's when you. When you're having treatment, or it's like a cancer treatment, the shape of the beanie is, if I remember it correctly, it's termed slashed, where it's not fit, but it has a little bit of space at the back for the breathing and for air and for that aspect. And so I said that I really wanted this shape because that's the shape that I think it's perfect for that. But the Materials should be changed and logo or any, any design should avoid certain area. So from there I, we receive samples and we test it out and we found what kind of material is more comfortable at the same time managing the cost. Because we know cashmere, 100% cashmere and 100% wool will be, will be the best option. But it's not going to be practical to use those for everyday treatment or everyday going out.

Okay, so, all right, that's awesome. So this is like a fundamental thing I think a lot of people deal with which is they get the product idea, they have an idea of what the ideal version of it is. And then they have to play this game which is like, what are the trade offs I have to make between cost to protect margin and quality. To protect quality, yes. And so I've been thinking about this tons. You hear me talk about this every week on our call. You know, I, I think in D2C margin is this incredible. Cheat codes. One of the reason I think supply chains are so bad in D2C is that I am convinced that brands are making it so much harder on themselves because they are not fighting for margin at their product by sourcing manufacturers and by looking at materials and thinking about better ways. I mean shipping, there's like a million things we can do here that I've heard you talk about a lot of times. Right. And so, but this starts at the level of like product development that you're talking about. So okay, so where did you go with this, with this product? Like what, what became, how did you play that game as you've developed the product? I don't know that you have a finished version of it yet. But like, you know, how did you think about that in terms of, you know, projecting out the price point for the product, thinking about what material you wanted to end up at and then starting to source suppliers and all those things too. So how did you deal with that trade off?

First I made sure that in the beginning I have a range of unit cost and landed cost to work on. And then eventually after like sourcing tons of suppliers and type of materials, I came into a resolution that I will be, for example, using a maximum of $7 unit cost without just unit cost, not, not with the landed cost yet. And so from there I was able to identify that I can, I can, I narrowed down materials to at least three that can, that can be used.

And before you get to those materials, Laura, really fast. So you decided $7 is the maximum you wanted to pay at the level of cogs in Product. How did you, how did you determine that number?

First is I researched other marketing, marketing research. And at the same time I learned I have a computation as well, of course what I want to do, like reverse computation of what I wanted to, how much I wanted to sell it and then from there computed 7. It includes all packaging because this is a very giftable product. So that cost includes box packaging, which is very unusual. For example, for the Beanie, if you order a Beanie in Amazon or other online, you will receive it in a OPP bag.

That's a good point.

But for us, you will receive it in a very giftable looking box. So those are the non negotiables that I have to consider. Not just with the unit cost, but also because this is a very giftable product.

Okay, so then yeah, and that means the pricing probably has to be about right too, right? So you want to, you want to put it at a price where people are going to gift it in the right range of price. This makes a lot of sense too. So do you, do you. Okay, so you landed on $7 is the most you wanted to be able to, you wanted to be able to pay for at the level of cogs, basically. Okay, so that got you to three materials. You were saying, that's when I got you off.

It's 100% merino wool, 100% cotton. And the third one is a combination of both. Combining both is in the middle. Cotton will be the cheapest and wool is the most expensive. And all of that is below the target that I, that I set. And I have like, since I have like eight vendors doing samples right now, I will be able to identify when, when I receive some of them, but when I receive all of them is to really shortlist not just with the quality of product, how the craftsmanship, but also all the information like MOQ lead time, payment terms and our relationship with a vendor because we, some of these vendors are the vendors of section 119 for four years already. So why choose another vendor if the relationship is there already? But depends also. So the more options we have, I know that the better product that we can choose for launch.

How many manufacturers did you first reach out to?

I reached out to probably 20 manufacturers in the space. My advantage is that when I started reaching out to Beanie suppliers, I was in China. So when I went to Camden Fair, majority of the vendors that I've reached out to I met in person, negotiated in person and so it's a lot easier. And at the same time, apparel industry is my Longest experience is part of that. So I know a lot of vendors already. It's a lot less than. It's a lot less and less effort for us.

Yeah, you didn't have to start fresh, whatever, but you still, I mean even, even with the depth of experience you have, even working on apparel supply chains for a long time, like, I know that's how you got into E Commerce. Was working on section 119 with Greg Carey, who's been on the show as well. Like the. So that's an apparel brand. So that's interesting. I didn't think about that. That makes a lot of sense. Did you? The flight from Manila to Canton to go to Canton Fair. How long is that?

Yes, two hours. It's, it's very.

You were saying you've become essentially a local in Canton. You know your way around there really well, huh?

Yes, yes. I've been there three times and in those visits I stayed for two weeks. So it's definitely, it's a very good place for business. And every. Most packaging vendors and high and big, big vendors have manufacturing in that area.

Yeah, that's really interesting. Okay, so you get eight vendors or you get samples from eight different vendors. You narrow it down to there. And now are you in the process of waiting for those to come? Is that where we're at in the process for this?

Yes. So a lot of them is coming in. So I have like two vendors to submit their samples, waiting for six more. And from there I know that I can choose for myself, but I'm also creating a small community here in the Philippines with undergoing treatment to really test, test it for me. So it's more like I, I with, with data and experience.

Okay, so then with those vendors, there's eight of them. You said you're going to all come in under $7. What do you think it's going to amount to? Like what's it looking like if your target was seven bucks, what is it coming down to?

So before we sample, I already know they're asking their quotation. So we have everything in our record right now. A lot of. The most for me, the most, the closest to. I think what we're going to choose is around 6.2 USD per piece with a box.

How much?

You said $6. $6.2 per piece.

Yeah. Awesome.

And it's the 100 merino wool. That's, that's actually I, I have in mind what to. I have in mind my top one. I just wanted to make sure that although I know theoretically and based on My experience, this is going to be the most comfortable and. And then the vendor has to. 30 pieces moq, 30 days the time. It's, it's. I still wanted to really get that sample to make sure that I did not shortcut the process and I did not cut the process. And I have an actual sample with.

Me with the vendor that you have, you're got $6.20 which is 80 cents under your target, which is a lot. I mean that's more than 10% under your target.

Right?

I think I did that right. So that's great. You and you're getting a 30 piece MOQ and a 30 day lead time.

Yes, 30 days. 30 days.

Unbelievable. That is very fast and very small order. So you can test really, really quickly here. That feels, that feels like it's. Yeah, that feels like it's a really, really big advantage. So you actually talked about like going in person and negotiating in person with some of these folks. What did you negotiate at this stage of things? What were the things you were negotiating? I mean, I mean price is the obvious one, but like I'm sure that wasn't it.

So I think this is where the first process when we. I just wanted to compare what we do in MOVE versus what I do with my brand. Because with move, we make sure that we first understand the goal of the business owner. Because sometimes it's not all about the pricing. As you said, I have particular brand and you know, this brand that has like has a budget for the highest quality possible product that we need to source. So there are also brands that have that will tell you that this is our target pricing and so different goals will have different priorities. So I have to know that first in move, I have to make sure that it is clear and we are aligned with the goal in mind. For me in Vivare, the cost is probably in the middle of the priority. The number one priority is before I choose a vendor to help us, I make sure that they understand what are these products for so that they know and then they can somehow feel that the journey that we're into is not just in the Philippines in that spot, it's not in the U.S. chinese vendors are also experiencing the same. So when I connect emotionally with them, showcasing what is this brand for, they will literally support me and help me identify the best products for this. So it's like I'm not just building it for myself, the community is building it for us. So the vendor now working with me and my team is working on the best product that can support the Brand itself. So for me number one is MOQ for now because I want to play around a lot of sqs and I don't have the budget for ordering a lot of pieces so if I have to choose between Number of orders vs number of SKUs I will definitely choose excuse because even colors sizes has to be present when you're gifting and at the same time it is not much of the lead time because I will be using 100 portless for this so I don't have to consider 3045 days shipping time for that and followed by the quality.

People might not know portless but this is an important part of what you just said which is like so portless is. I mean you should explain. I know who they are but you should explain it's pretty cool thing.

Yes. So this is actually this service is going to help a lot of brand. The products they're selling is not very heavy and not very huge in terms of dimension because they have their facility which we visited last month in Guangzhou they have a very huge warehouse facility wherein they, they send all the products from China direct to customers. So that removes the shipment of VIAC from China to your US warehouse or that removes your cost in in shipping via air because you don't have lead time enough lead time to deliver your product. So everything, all of the, all of your products will be delivered in that massive warehouse in Guangzhou and you are when they order they will connect of course your your shopify to their system and then they will be receiving the orders from from your customers and they will pick and pack. They will send it, they can send if I remember it correctly, 10, 000 shipments a day direct to us. And the experience is really good because the, because the customers receive a US tracking number and not another tracking number. So it may take I believe within five to nine days for the products to arrive. It's a little bit more than the usual but the amount that you save from shipping it to your US warehouse to doing it via Portless is very huge and at the same time the costing because you skip the shipment cost for for that which is around 35% right now Andrew when you do that. So just, just a very very quick computation. If you wanted to check how much it will cost after the unit after unit cost add 35% and that's what you're saving. So when, when. So I'm planning to use that all products will be there. I don't have products that is very very heavy and huge. So that's my main priority. So that's, that's, that's the service.

I think that's really interesting. Like, so Portless is awesome. I think for a lot of brands it's something that they don't explore. They should. And I know, I mean your, your mind for these things makes me not at all surprised that you've, you've locked onto using them for certain scenarios. But one of the things that stands out to me is that if I make the connection between something you said on the supply chain side, you are building it to reflect a decision you're making about the distribution once it actually gets to the customer side. So the idea of like lead time being less important though I think actually 30 days is still pretty good. Like you're now going to have a really short lead time and it's less important to you from the actual manufacturer because you don't have to deal with Ocean Freight to some US warehouse or something like that, right? Where it's going to add a couple of weeks or whatever to, to all that. So, so that allows you to approach the negotiation process really differently. And I think I, I think you expressed something very similar when you talked about like cost versus cost versus quality. Like in this case you're talking about a brand where like the quality is a huge deal and your number one goal actually isn't really squeezing out every penny of margin though over time I'm sure you'll be able to negotiate those things down more and all that. But it's a really interesting thing to hear you sort of connect what you're doing on supply chain side to your distribution strategy on the back end in a way that is like really thought through from start to finish is another thing I think people just like haven't really considered. Like the problem with Portless obviously is that it takes longer than like delivering USPS mail. Right. But there's probably some products where like if you're unique enough or, or, or if there's just not really a situation where it's going to be something that's going to get rushed, you know, like it's fine. It's not, it's like a little slower than maybe people would like. But actually it's not true that everybody expects Amazon style shipping. So yeah, I think there's, there's just a real opportunity to use something like that for the right brand. But like your decision about that has got to be in relation to the product that you have, whether or not it's a good fit for Portless, like all those things. So anyway, that's Just what I hear in that is that there's like a lot of decisions there. I want to ask you.

Oh, yeah. So just to give more context on that. I think that's really true what you've said. When your product is, can be, can be bought in Amazon, definitely doing this is going to be a disadvantage for you because Amazon can do it the following day delivery. So you have to really consider it's a huge opportunity. But it depends on the products that you have and the unique value proposition that you offer for the product.

Yeah, yeah. I think more brands should be trying it at least seeing if it makes a difference for them. Okay, so I want to go back to something else you said, which is that you negotiated all these in person. You got people thinking about your brand, you got vendors doing this. I think in the US A lot of people look at Chinese vendors and just think of them as sort of like not cold or something like that, but just like, like they don't care about my business. They just, they're not, they're not really partners. There's like a culture gap and a, and a geographical gap and they're just whatever. But when I hear you talk about this, you're going in person telling people about the brand, recognizing that Chinese people get cancer too and that they understand what you're trying to accomplish and that their cancer stories and their cancer journeys matter to them. And of course, even the brand that you're talking about here is, is pretty powerful and it's in a, in a unique way. Right. But, but like I've heard Maytab, Maytab has said this on my show, Maytab Bogle, he said get on a fl. Get on a plane and go to China and meet your vendors. Like, one of the things I have loved about working with you on my brand is that like with at least packaging providers because my brand will not be manufactured in China. You did that like you went and did it and you are an extension of my team and like, and I think that's, that's awesome. So how important do you think that is that you were in person with those vendors?

Yes.

And that, that two hour flight as opposed to the, you know, 15 or whatever hours it would take me. How, how, how big of a deal is that?

So first of all, I just wanted to share my experience, how I saw shift in relationship when, when the client visits or the Chinese vendor visits the US because they sometimes have also trade fairs in the US that they attend to. I think the, the, of course, because of the Cultural differences and language barrier, sometimes it permeates, it limits the the owner and the manufacturer to really build the relationship over WeChat, over Alibaba profile. And so breaking that, the only way to break that is if you meet and really like discuss something deeper aside from the business itself. So one of my process in negotiating, not just for Vivre, I shared with you that with Vivre I informed them what this is for. But it has been a process for me that before I negotiate I explain what is this brand, what is the goal of the owner? The owner appreciates quality first and foremost and so we need to make sure that all of the samples that we are going to send is of highest quality, then followed by cost. Whenever I share the purpose, the goal and the vision of the brand, they feel connected and they feel that they are part of the brand. And when they do that, they do extra mile for you and for the brands and for the owners. Similar to what I've experienced even after visiting their manufacturing, seeing all the seven levels of the production of the beanie. For example, when I went back to the Philippines, I still received random message from those vendors saying I think this is good for head without hair. It's very, very, very, very thoughtfully. They are just sharing with me. I know it's business still sales, but you don't experience that with other vendors that you don't have relationship with. So having, having to have someone to represent your brand and build that connection is very important. And at some point if you're getting your main products from, from China, although you can get the service of move to do that, it's also very highly recommended that you go there yourself. I, I, I really agree with Metav on that because it's, we're going to help you a lot, but you're, you will experience a different kind of shift in your business with that vendor when you go there yourself.

It's just relationships. At the end of the day, I think about you and I like, like you've been, you've had, we've had a meal in la and then you and one of your teammates came to my house, we had dinner and you brought stuff for my kids and they still talk about Ms. Lara coming and you know, and it really matters like, you know, and, and those are the kind of things that help make it better so that we can actually deepen, you know, just that kind of parts of working together in ways that like make me now more invested. Now I'm coming to the Philippines later, you know, and we're going to go. It's just it all. And now, I mean, in some way, Lara, you're connected into every single. I say this in my ad reads all the time, but you and your team are connected to literally every part of my business at this point. And I, and I think I'm connected to every part of your business at this point too. Like, I actually now am touching everything that you are doing. And, and I, I do think the relational component of that is a big deal, especially across cultures. Like, it's just there's like stuff where we have to get to know each other in a little bit of a different way. And so I know those are long flights for you from the Philippines to la, you know, but. Yeah, that said, I have, I really appreciate the, the idea that on, on my stuff that we're working on that you can. That like I could have team members who could get to China really fast if we needed to, you know, and really easy.

Yes.

And, and you would be a sincere extension of my team especially because, you know, there's two services, right, that you guys could theoretically offer to somebody that would both make sense here. One of them is move supply chain, which we mostly kind of probably what we're talking about here, right, where it's like an agency style supply chain service, a project based service or supply chains, you know, and there's that. But of course somebody also got hired through more staffing, the staffing agency that you run that we've been talking about for a long time, a full time supply chain person. And, and you know, the same the way you have been with section 119 and some of those things. And, and so there's a real way to sort of depending on how much is needed here to have that person really be like a part of this team. So I, I think it's a, I think it's a super compelling thing that you guys are just so close to China and that that's sort of a unique value add to where like working with somebody in the Philippines in this case, I think for me I've seen it as like a huge advantage. And then it's of course, someday. Someday, of course. Like, yeah, maybe I would go visit a manufacturer in China as well or something. But, but yeah, that's, that's interesting. Okay, we got a few minutes left still. What, what else in that process? I can't remember we left off. I was curious about that. So.

Oh, you were talking about sampling process.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what you were looking for, you know, you're talking about Quality as like the kind of the other big thing that you were looking for. Anything else in the sampling process you want to. You want to talk about?

Yeah, I think one. One advantage that I experience is that I pay less sample fees but that's related to relationship. So I get to experience and to see the actual products in person. When you can request for samples for free, you just pay for the shipment. So we are not. We're using our pert or project management sheet and we still make sure that we don't cut on the process of new product development and at the same time so from the negotiation in person making sure that before we even sample MOQ lead time payment terms are are already set. We also have the. We talked about having the advantage of using portless and of course the inventory planning system that I'm planning to introduce, it's not yet needed right now. But of course that's going to be a huge help that the allocation process the amount of. Since we have a very low MOQ and we have to consider just 30 days lead time as compared to usually 90 days if you wanted to ship it via sea, then we have the leverage also to order smaller quantity versus those who need to order higher quality. So I think one of the important process that I also applied in vivirae is the bundling system wherein a lot of products can be sold together. And I know that I could help my marketing, I could help you to help me if I have products that goes well and it's good to partner with different products. So we create a system where we create products not just to. Not not just aesthetically beautiful but they are also innovative in many many ways that you can. For example, this water bottle that has hope that you have like a compartment here and there's a pill case that you can put inside or other important like powders medicines that you can. You can use for that. So it's not just a product, a giftable product. It's a product with with purpose. And I'm very proud to. I'm very proud to say that my. My team in Invivere they are. They. They came from different experiences work experiences in. In the Philippines and they are all have experience mental health. That's why when we discuss we understand what product do we need to do. Like yeah, I make sure that they somehow feel that they really part of this is for us, this is for the community and this is not just for me. So when we decide on design, it's not me who's deciding on design. It's the community designing on the design. So it's more of a team building. And so having, having an idea what product to sell plus making it innovative for people that needs it and at the same time having the people to build it that has the experience and understand the products is really, really helpful. But at the same time I think this is the downside of this all, with all the advantages that I've shared is you're going to be too attached. And I had, I've had that experience because for a year I have all the products in mind and I didn't do it, I didn't start. And it took me a year to really make that move and start because I was too attached with the idea, the branding, the logo. And so when I decided, no, this is not the important part why I'm doing this business, this business is for the community, for those having, for those who need this product. So I have to really do a lot of meditation and selft talk that I have to delegate. I cannot do it myself. I have to trust other people to do it for me. And so those team members that I have right now, those are, they are a product of my training. Lizelle is actually a product of my training program. Andrew and so Omar. So a lot of my team members like, yeah, like Miki, they, they came from different work experiences before and they show interest in supply chain and they want to grow, they have, they want to have a growth plan in, in the remote setup. And so getting previously $2.5 per hour from a Filipino company there, they're getting a minimum of five to seven dollars to start as a trainee is something that is very helpful for them. So it's somehow the learnings that I've, that I have to really get off is to detach, trust the process, delegate and do it with the team because I cannot do it for myself just with myself.

Yeah, I, I try to, that's, that's so good. I try to make this point all the time that one of the things you guys are, are like, it's just like for us teams, like it's just the ability to pay people the, the, the, the, the wage. I mean when you, you quote those numbers, 250 versus 5 versus 7 and 5 or 7 is an upgrade for these folks and their early career. Right. I mean this is not like a, these are younger employees who are coming up just like anybody would. Right. They're going to make more money than that in the future. But like the, the, that's just. Yeah, it's just it's just easy to see very quickly how far a dollar can go for hiring incredible talent in the Philippines. And, and like, you know the two names you just mentioned, who are. They're working on my brand. Like, I, I think the world of them both. I think they're awesome. It's funny, at times I gather that they're like younger, they're newer, you know what I mean? They're like their earlier career and all those things. They have a couple little ticks where you're like, oh, yeah, okay, I get, I get that. Like where, where it's just, they', career, you know, just is what it is. I had those two, but they're, they're really smart, really talented. And I'm, I mean, enough so that I'm like, great, keep going. Like, I trust you so much on these things that they're doing. I've told my co founder on that business, like, like, I don't actually think we could have done this without, without using you guys. Like, I really mean that. Like, I think like, we had this idea for this business and relative to doing it the way that we were doing it as side gig kind of thing, I don't know if it ever would have gotten off the ground. Like, it just. And now not only is it getting off the ground, but it's getting off the ground. And at least in my case with the two people you just mentioned trained the way they are and that my business case with cogs with margins that are going to be at or better than the target that I had, which is like the core proposition of the business. And look, anybody who's listening to me talk, talk with you and other people about the notion of P and L design knows that when I say that I have a very high margin in mind. So like, you know, we're aiming really high on our margin and, and we're going to get it with, with that help. So I, I don't think we could have even gotten the product done without them and certainly not at a reasonable moq, at a reasonable lead time and with, with the margin that I wanted if, if they were not doing this. And so they're really good quality employees. And then of course they have this opportunity to grow and keep being trained and recruited and stuff. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's really cool to see the way that stuff is trickling down from, from you and I'm glad to hear you delegating. Like, it's, you know, you're just so talented. It's hard to have somebody else do it for you.

I know, but like, yes, the standard is really high, especially if it's your product. But you really have to let go and trust the process. That's what I learned.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. People should follow up with you in a couple ways. We could talk a lot more and I bet we will do future episodes where we just kind of keep talking through this process as it unfolds, you and I. Maybe we can do a whole episode where we have a brand reveal party where we really show all the products.

And everything for both of our brands.

Yeah, that'd be fun. But we, when we do that, we should, well, say people should follow up with you. There's a whole bunch of stuff you're doing. But, but for more and for move, you go to MoreStaffing CO AF and you can just DM me by the way, if you want to get in contact contact with Laura. People do that all the time. Or email me podcastjfgrowth.com and I'll connect you straight to Laura or to the right person on Laura's team. And so more staffing is staffing agency move supply chain. Is the supply chain agency. Anything more you want to say about those two or what you guys are offering or anything like that?

Yeah. So I think it all starts with me understanding the business needs. So I think a discovery call is very, very important because I can help you identify if you need an independent contract or if you need an agency right away. Because different, both service has its advantages over the what level you're in in the business. So even if you don't get the service, it's very important to discuss with a supply chain mindset that what, what position you're in so that we can help you identifying what would be the best next step for your supply chain department, especially if you don't have one yet before. And so I think whatever solution, either hiring independent contractor and or getting an agency, the first step is for us to understand what you need right now. And so a discovery call is very, very helpful. And then we can, we can go from there.

Cool. The links for all that stuff's in the show notes of this episode, of course. And again, you can email me podcastjfgrowth.com where should people reach out to you? Lara@supplychainlara on X, which Lara's also a great follow there for lots of this kind of stuff. But where, where should people email you?

Yeah, so the email that I've been using is laramorestaffing that cool.

And she'll direct you to the right service for that take. Take her up on that. Like I said, I'm using it myself. This is the reason why we've had a relationship for a while where she's been a sponsor of mine and all those things. So anyway, Laura, you're the best. I'm excited to hang out in Philippines pretty soon.

Yes. See you. See you in two months, Andrew.

Yeah, yeah. All right, bye. Okay, seriously, you should follow up with Lara and your business. If you've made it this far in this episode, you probably have something about this conversation that grabs you. I am constantly amazed by impressed with Lara and her team. I gush about it all the time but really almost everything I touch at this point in some way involves Lara and her team and and I just am so grateful for that. So follow the links, the show notes for whether you want to hire somebody full time in your business from the Philippines with more staffing or you want sort of an agency project based service, move supply chain to look at your supply chain. She could probably tell you in one call if she can help you. So definitely go check out those links. They're both in the show notes and in the description of this to go do that. Thanks again for Laura and do give her a follow on X. She is really, really great there at supply Chain Lara. So I will talk to you next time. Thanks so much for watching. Thanks so much for listening. Sam.