When a surprise abundance gets dumped in your yard

Yesterday we got a huge load of wood chips dropped off at our house for free.

So much that we're only going to be able to use about half.

(Unless I decide to a make a wood chip fort in the front yard)

But two of our neighbors have been desperate for wood chips so they were happy when I told them to help themselves to our pile. I only knew they needed them because I planned ahead by asking around.

Much of this year has been around planning for slow times, stockouts, and downturns in general.

But like we did, you need to also consider how you would handle a surprise abundance.

What if you start setting daily sales records?

What if everyone of your potential market buys from you because a competitor isn't online or had to close?

What if you have a rush of orders over the next few months?

These scenarios might be unlikely but you should put some thought into how you can cope with an increase in your store. Do you have capacity, physical space to process orders, enough inventory? Can you get your hands on what you might be missing?

There just might be a bit of sunshine this winter.

If you want to see how your Shopify store is performing, the Cohort Report in Repeat Customer Insights can help you spot an upcoming abundance. You can compare how customers this year are performing against last year and spot upcoming seasonal trends.

Now to figure out where to stick all these extra wood chips.

Eric Davis