How The War In Iran Is Affecting Your Supply Chain (And What To Do About It) transcript

Emergency podcast episode today, in the grand scheme of things, there are much bigger problems when there are wars in the world than what is happening for your e-commerce business. But, there is a reality that with the war in Iran happening right now, there are I'm seeing and hearing many reports of supply chain disruptions for a whole bunch of reasons. And so, on the podcast today, we I'm talking with Lara Guevara from Move Supply Chain to talk through what she is seeing from her supply chain clients, what kind of pricing there is, and I'm going to also give you some examples of direct specific disruptions that I have seen happening for brands because of this.

If you're having any disruption because of the war right now in your supply chain, of course, you probably are with me and know that again there are bigger problems and bigger fish to fry, and yet it is still your business you need to do something about it. Lara is on the show today. She's been through it with 17 years in supply chain work. She's been through a lot of disruptions, whether it's COVID or other wars or other things like that that have all been disruptions in supply chain.

She's going to give us her guide for how to handle moments like this for your brands. If you're seeing something like this, Lara is going to guide you. She actually reached out to me proactively and said, "I'm seeing this with my clients. Probably should talk about it because it's going to be a real issue and it's going to keep being a real issue as long as this goes on." So, today I've got Lara. Technically, this is a sponsored episode, but it barely even fits that kind of framework because while it is technically sponsored because Lara and Move Supply Chain are there, we're really just talking about Lara's perspective on the supply chain disruptions happening in the world right now.

If you're manufacturing anything in China, this is an important episode for you to get your head around. So, let's get into it with Lara Guevara right now. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. You can hear me? Yeah, yeah. Morning for you, evening for me. Lara, Lara, of course, people will know that you are in the Philippines. You run Move Supply Chain. You spent a lot of time in your career in in in not only supply chain, but navigating supply chain disruptions.

We've got this war now. We've got COVID. What are the other ones that you've seen happen over the last bunch of years that have been real disruptions in supply chain, out of left field, throwing things off? For e-commerce alone, the 2018-2019 first tariff, first Google tariff, and then the pandemic, and then the tariff again last year, and now this. Yes. Yeah, it's one it's one of these reminders that there's just there's just unknown unknowns in the future of anything that you're doing.

And so, you you you have to have supply chain strategy for it. Okay, here's how I want to start. I want to read you some things. These are some comments that I have seen in e-commerce fuel in the forum there. Shout-out to Andrew Youderian, who's going to be a guest on the show next week. You guys have sponsored ECF Live, Lara. We're big fans of e-commerce fuel around here. Go join. Go join ECF. This is actually one of those great moments where being in a forum with other e-commerce operators, which is what ECF is, Yeah. where it's it's just really big and really helpful.

Okay? So, I'm not going to read the names or anything like that, but one person said, "Due to the war in the Middle East, there's a 7% increase in the unit cost of a SKU." That came from a Chinese supplier. We've got Let's see. Somebody raised the price the shipping price of a very large, very heavy product by 33%. This is like a product that costs hundreds of dollars to ship because it's very large and all that because of because of just how much shipping costs have gone up for them.

Another person said, "Two suppliers bumped prices up bumped prices up by 15% this morning, quote, until the global situation resolves." Um And another person says, "My supplier tells me 17% raw aluminum cost increase, 13% increase in stainless steel." So, this is like lots of people saying lots of things like this. One person One person said an 8% increase, and the person's response was uh "Fine, understandable. They weren't going to argue with them, but they said, 'Please mark it as a surcharge, not as a price increase, because I figured it'd be easier to walk back a surcharge later if if this resolves.'" So, it's a clever idea.

So, this is happening. This is happening. This is all in the last like 24 hours or so. What do uh what do you see as like the as like the major situation? Why are these things happening? Can you just paint the picture, Lara, why these things are happening for Chinese manufacturers in relation to to a war that's in Iran? Yeah. So, I think the first very obvious effect of this is the fuel increase. So, everyone's experiencing it right now.

Here in the Philippines, it's it's times three, I think, in 2 weeks. So, people government started to mandate 4-days work week or something like that so that people will go out less. So, that's the first thing. I'm not sure in the US if there's something like that, but it has increased 3x >> That's crazy. the diesel and gasoline since since the since it started. And so, the first obvious is the shipment cost. It changes every now and then, but it will definitely increase at this point.

So, it's very smart what I've heard that you've said that it shouldn't be included in the final cost of of the of the product. It should be just like a surcharge, not a price increase. Right. Yeah. Yes, alongside other surcharges. Like, you will see a lot of line items in your invoice right now, like emergency insurances and others like that. So, the freight the number one affected here are those using DDP or delivered duties paid.

So, they want everything to be handled by the vendor, including production, freight, duties and taxes, delivery up until their warehouse. Now, the DDP quote is being presented to you as a vendor at the beginning of the beginning of the PO. Now, the PO is going to be produced 45 days, 60 days after, and the uncertainty is something that they're avoiding right now. So, if you are very dependent on DDP, they are reacting from DDP already.

So, they would say, "Transition to FOB or ex-works where let's just PO the unit cost right now, and let's discuss freight after 30 days or 45 days, because I'm not sure how the vendors are not sure how huge will be the impact by then. The 30 days might be a huge change in in cost. So, it's it's a very disruptive situation for those dependent on DDP, because now they don't they need a freight forwarder. They need like lawyers to do the brokerage and fees and so other other fees like that.

And they're not aware how to do it, so they're scrambling. Um But definitely for those who are used to doing FOB or ex-works, and they have a good partner in shipping for freight forwarding, the only impact to them is that they will have an increased price of shipments after the production is done. So, when you look at all of this all of these challenges, you just kind of mentioned a couple of things that you can do that maybe help with this.

Let's just start super super practical. Like like that advice, for example, like make sure the supplier marks it as a surcharge so that they can't hang on to it afterwards. Like a very small thing, but could could really make a difference. What I'm I'm curious about is like how you think about uh how you think about like um practical things that brands can do. Cuz, you know, I know you. I know some of what you will say here will be related to the broader approach to your supply chain rather than this individual moment, right?

I I'm I'm immediately thinking about inventory ordering strategy, but that happened a while ago, right? In this moment, when this thing kind of happens, you already ordered the inventory a month or 3 months or 6 months ago or whatever it was. And so, you may be able to think about that again differently in the future, but right now right now today with your vendors, like what are the things that you're telling brands at Move to do?

Your guys' What are you having them change? What are you having them address? Like, what are the what are the moves right now to sort of try to sort of solve some of this? Yeah. Yeah, first So, now we're preparing to face the vendors, right? So, we're going there April. The goal is sourcing, but now the goal has shifted to negotiations again. So, before we face either online or in person our vendors, we have to be prepared of our data first so that we know what to prioritize.

What I'm trying to say is now the negotiation is gold, and we must negotiate the top three, the priority for your brand right now. It could be lead time, MOQ, price, depending on what the brand um really needs. You know, a brand doesn't require a very cheap unit cost, but they need they need speed in lead time. So, first is to have a the data prepared, a real-time inventory visibility. That's the one. Second is a supplier diversification map.

So, we need to understand first if we have alternative in the list. If not, then it's a different We don't have that much leverage to our existing vendors if they're just the vendor that we have, right? Third, a demand signal system that connects your our marketing launches, calendars, and promotions into replenishment triggers because before we're used to doing just-in-time ordering. For especially for DTC, because we cannot hold 90 days worth of goods like the bigger companies, right?

So, we call it just-in-time, but right, but that's dependent on a very stable scenario where lead time is fixed. Right now, lead time is not fixed. Um and so, shipment could not only increase in cost, but also get delays. That's the number that is that is that's the second impact of this is the delay in shipment additional >> Because Because of the straight out of miles or what like what why would why are the delays, yeah?

Yeah, so it will add 10 to 14 days because they are trying to um reroute some of the shipments. And then when you do that, of course, the number of vessels coming back and forth in a year is lesser, so they increase the price, they increase the lead time. Um >> Yeah. And and and yeah, so having that information before you negotiate with a vendor is is very very important, so that you know what you're going to negotiate.

You know, again, not all brands' number one priority is cost. Some of them is lead time. Some of them they are going to have a huge launch that they have already prepared for in the next couple of months and they need it to arrive before then. So, after you've understood what's your priority, that's the time that we need to face our vendor to talk about um giving us what we need because the your vendors right now trying um the Chinese suppliers are getting their raw materials 80% within China.

So, in that sense, um if you think about it, they shouldn't feel the increase right away. They shouldn't feel the increase right away. So, if your supplier is telling you that they're increasing cost, unit cost of their products, you need to um you need to ask so much more questions uh to to negotiate. >> because is that because you think it's possible that your supplier is just using this to jack up prices? >> Definitely.

Yeah. >> Yeah. That's so interesting. That's so interesting. So, one of the things to do is potentially just fight back by saying like >> Yes. Like >> your product? Why are they increasing like I heard 7% right away because um they shouldn't feel it this at this point. They will feel it maybe a few months after, but the increase now is definitely something that you could negotiate. Like um what kind of product do you produce?

Is it is it very um related to fuel? Because that's the first one. Um you know, and and then second, um how many how much raw materials are produ uh producing that in China versus are they getting raw materials outside China? Like that's why there are more increased price. So, >> gosh. Uh well, it's just fascinating because I've had you on and I've had Roman Khan on saying basically the same thing on the show, which is which is it it's making this is a perfect example of something that's making all the sense in the world, what you just said, which is like who is supplying your suppliers?

Well, you can get an answer to that question by getting a bill of materials from your supplier and then understanding who your supplier's suppliers are and basically great supply chain work is is going and chasing all that stuff down. And in this scenario, like you're talking about being able to answer this question by like real price increases that are really going to make a difference. And and so it's it's just like having that stuff on hand for a moment like this, even if you aren't going and doing much about it today, but just having in the information on hand so that when somebody comes to you and says, "Hey, it's a 15% price increase or whatever it is." You're able to go, "Okay, who?

Which ones of these are the ones >> Yes. >> doing that? And and help me understand why you're charging me this money." Because you may end up being a reasonable partner and saying like, "Okay, I see that." Like like I get it. It cost you more, you got to pay me more, that's what your business is. Or you may discover at that point that you've got, you know, >> Mhm. Mhm. a supplier that is just trying to trick you around.

That's why regardless if there's a disruption or not, I I think I've mentioned this before that your your tier two or tier three supplier is very important that you know. Like tier two is your your supplier's supplier and you have tier three is your supplier's supplier's supplier. So that in in this situation, you already know how to negotiate right away. You know, you know that your products are not directly impacted aside from fuel, so definitely there's an room for negotiation.

But the the most um urgent impact that they will feel is is of course the the freight cost. It has started and will keep increasing at this point. So, the the main goal to um the main step to help you with that is of course to the reli- reliability of your freight forwarder. You know, many shipments or or freight forwarders will also use this opportunity to put a lot a lot of line items in your invoice. And I know for a lot of brands in DTC, they're not reading their invoice.

There are So, when they say the shipment cost right now um is $8 per per kilo. And so, they you will agree, okay, $8 per kilo not not too high at this point. But the freight forwarder does not uh will not add all the increases in that per kilo. They will put different line items. So, if you don't ask about that, then you don't know how to add those to your COGS, your final landed cost. So, you have to also ask if this is the rate right now, what are the other surcharges you're going to add in my invoice because I have to put that in my costing.

Yeah. And plan for it, yeah. Yeah, and it's a good you know, it's not a bad thing to separate that. It's actually a smart thing because now that they can just remove that when it's done. But you most of the time the the DTC owners, they don't see those surcharges anymore. They just see the whole invoice, they pay it, they know that their freight is $8 per kilo and that's it. So, the impact there >> Are you guys doing this for clients now?

Have Have you guys done this for clients now? Like gone and started to ask them these questions and done that? Yes, I actually I actually emailed our clients to send me their invoice at this point so I can so I can check because I created a um an app in base 44 recently of you just upload the invoice and it will scan and give you So, I'm using it right now. I'm testing, that's why I'm also um asking for their invoices because again, they don't check that.

The two invoices that they don't usually check is the freight forwarder's invoice and the 3PL invoice. Yeah. Yeah. That's totally right. Um anything else that you want to tell people about sort of like what they can do right now because one of the things you suggested in there was starting to shop backup suppliers. And I want to talk about that in a second, basically that essentially if you've got one supplier in this situation and you have no additional uh you have no uh redundancy built into your supply chain, basically, then there's not probably that much you can do right now, right?

Like you just kind of are a little stuck. But um but let's put that separately because again, finding a new supplier is not something that's going to happen overnight. Um So, is there anything else that you think of right now that people should be doing and planning for or anything like that? I mean, you talked about the idea One thing you mentioned in there that I think was is really smart also is just getting a lot of clarity to your inventory velocity, basically like when do you have new product coming that you've already ordered?

When do you have when you're going to run out of your current stuff? Like getting really clear about that because you're going to have to forecast out your future costs and this could really affect your pricing in a bunch of different ways. So, just like basically like yeah, taking a moment to say like really get on top of understanding what do you have on hand? What's on its way already that is sort of under an old costing?

And then what is actually going to come next and how's that going to affect a bunch of, you know, my revenue? So, yeah. Yeah. What Anything else besides that that you'd have people do right now? Yeah. So, the first layer that you need to understand, as I've said, is what is the priority for negotiation, lead time, cost, um minimum order quantity. Next layer, once you have that, is you all your SKUs are not treated equally, right?

So, you have to have that data of what SKU or product is being prioritized right now. So, what you can do is to pull your stock on hand report and flag any SKUs under 60 days. That's the number one. That's the target. And then map your top five products. This is and and most importantly, you have to identify your A products, who are the biggest fast movers, best selling products. And align your negotiation based on that.

So that you have a clarity which product you are trying to negotiate now. I I think even if I say now to order more products, it's not practical, you know? I I I can easily tell an um an enterprise company, order now. The way that we're doing this in KFC, Andrew, I've experienced this in 209 uh 2009, um we locked in the price of uh oil for 6 months. Yeah. >> Because we have identified the increase. And so, we locked in the price, we were our vendor was able to order in advance as well because of that lock in PO, and then we were able to um not be affected by the increase.

But right now, even if I say to the brands to order 90 days, it would be impossible because they are of course managing their cash flow. So, that's not entirely the solution for DTC. So, make sure >> Let me say something about that though really fast, Laura. I think you're I think you're right that that's it's not realistic for many brands. I think there are some brands for whom it's more realistic than than it could seem.

Uh because Uh yeah, there just may be ways to finance it or actually you just may you just may take a larger cash uh that right now. And I I it is a it is an interesting thing. I mean first of all this is an argument for running more profitably and like growing a little slower and some of that kind of stuff. Um but but it is it is this one of my one of the first things that came to mind with you on the situation is is a story of a brand that I knew of that had accidentally massively over ordered.

I told this story before but they massively over ordered inventory. Like somebody made a mistake on the team. They had way too much inventory uh at one point. But they did they placed that order like in 2019 towards the end of middle middle end of the year. And so they happened to massively over ordered right before COVID. And while everybody else was sold out of everything and their ships piling up outside of Long Beach right near where I live and all that kind of stuff um they were like they had plenty of stock.

In fact they had too much stock still. And for them it ended up being this giant win cuz they could sort of take advantage of the moment like nobody else could. Uh and what it reminded me was everybody fetishizes inventory turn and being just in time. And again I understand it which is that you you sometimes you know you need the cash flow. I like I get that. I really get that. Um I run brands. I understand. But uh but it is worth noting that there is risk there.

I think that's just it. That that when you behave that way probably most of the time it works fine. But there is risk that can be harmful uh and it's just worth noting that. And so if you have the ability and I think of this particularly with SKUs that you just know that you're not going to have too much up right? You don't want to you don't want to go to a giant over order a new product where you're not sure how it's going to perform.

But if you've got a core product that you know is going to move. If you slow down your inventory turn a little but also de-risk your business in some ways as there's global disruptions that come. Because the thing about these is nobody ever announces them right? Like they happen fast and they happen out of nowhere. And so just making sure you never sell out of that product like I yeah it can be really valuable. And so again while granting what you're saying is true brands can't necessarily turn around and do that.

It's just always worth noting in a moment like this that like these things do happen. And and and and actually having a little bit uh of some backup stock uh can really make a big difference. So anyway Yeah, that's why the speed of knowing what is your eight products which contributes the biggest margin to you um it is very important because that way whatever you have despite of the timeline situation you already know where to spend your money.

You already know where to to prioritize in negotiating because you know that your core products cannot be out of stock at this point. And there's also a decision making like maybe you're launching um or experimenting something right now then it has to be postponed because again now that your marketing calendar um it we just started the year so I know that a lot of DTC brands have created their calendar for the year. Um marketing feels this last so I had the I mentioned this the other I have this group where it's mostly marketing agency and I was the only supply chain agency and then I asked um maybe two weeks ago and they haven't felt anything yet like zero.

And so I kind of shared uh supply chain um um background in that. So marketing feels the pain last but uh it will suffer the most if we don't have stocks to sell. So in this global shift um supply chain feels it first. So our agency has been receiving a lot of messages from our vendors right now that they don't want DDP anymore. Their production is delayed all those all those increases. And then the operations will feel it and then the finance then marketing is last.

But by then um before it it if if marketing is doing the um adjustment the last then you already don't have an inventory for that. That's why it's very important that's why I thought this this podcast could be very important because if even if you're not feeling it right now it's going to it's going to go there after the supply chain um and operations feel it. So that's something that maybe check your calendar check your marketing calendar.

You if you have been um if you are planning to spend this amount of of budget for a certain launch and you think that is it's going to be affected by this disruption then move it a little bit or or postpone it or pop it or yeah. You have to identify >> Right cuz now cuz you cuz you might have a spot right now in your calendar to just bring this like in a few months where you've got a promotion planned or a product release planned or something and you're not going to have that product in time to do it.

And so the idea of like getting your supply chain and then marketing team won't know it until it's really late right? Supply So get your supply chain team talking to your marketing team and now for some brands that's the same person right? Um but but but like but yeah just understand now how that's going to affect your calendar and how it's going to affect your your efforts. And maybe a step below that for some brands build a calendar.

Uh yeah some some brands need to do that step first but yeah. Um I like that point a lot. Start thinking now about where the disruptions are. Like a lot of what I hear you saying is like this is a moment where you need to get more knowledge of what's actually happening in your supply chain uh in every possible way. Your current inventory counts what's going to you know what do you need what do you not need? Uh like who's your supplier supplier?

These are all questions of like really digging into the details of of your supply chain and understanding what's happening at a deeper level. Yeah. If if um the past disruption last year um Andrew because not only the tariff was added but also the de minimis was gone. So last year it was a very different it was a very difficult situation for DTC brands because the enterprise the big companies are not affected by that.

Um you know they are affected by tariff but they're not affected by the de minimis the removal of the de minimis. So unlike last year that these DTC in e-commerce brands suffered more than retailers and huge retailers right now it's an equal equal game. So um it's also an opportunity um if if we can turn this threat into an opportunity for DTC owners because right now everyone is going to scramble on pricing and in in inventory and also um prices price increases.

So if the retails if the big brands are going to increase their prices it's also an opportunity for for DTC DTC brands to check that out because I know coming from um hearing it or maybe you can share more about this but be they are very careful with increasing prices. That's one of the I think the last thing that they will do is to increase their price so that they can be they can sell more. So um at least the the the the gay I mean the competition right now is fair and everyone's going to feel it.

Um let's let's take a broader step back. So um so besides the moment here let's say you get through this moment you're thinking like how do I how do I make sure that these things don't affect me so much in the future and how do I build this? What what should I do to build a a more stable supply chain in a broader sense um so that so that these kind of disruptions which are going to keep happening whether it's this or something else right?

They just are like uh is is more resilient. Yeah. So if you don't have alternative vendor right now I will keep on saying that you don't have to wait for the next disruption to find it. And the the common strategy that I'm sharing it's not it's not just within the same country but China plus one. And ideally the other one is near shore. So um at this point it's you know even if they're more um expensive even if like for example near shoring is more expensive that's your only choice if we cannot uh transit any products anymore from Asia right?

So um the number one advice is at least work on an approved sample. You don't have you don't have to order from them right away but do this even without disruption and alternative vendor. And also next is knowing knowing what your uh what the stand of your products are. If if you already know which products are the priority products then immediately you can quickly negotiate those products to your vendors. Then logistics wise it's time to really expand your network.

So you should if you if you know if you don't know any freight forwarder right now because you are used to using DDP DDP is convenient but it will not help us in this scenario. So if you're used to DDP you have to learn how to use FOB and X works and that means more work because that means sourcing for freight forwarder partners sourcing for other things but in this situation that will save you. So more network and of course keep on um keep on looking for different alternatives in terms of fulfillment.

Like there are different fulfillment strategies right now. You can have your warehouse in US, you can keep it in in China. Your clients will your customers will receive your products 8 to 10 days. It's longer than using using your current 3PL in US, but they will still receive it at a low cost. So, that's an opportunity. Like, be make sure that you are aware of these opportunities because you know you don't know when you might need them.

Yeah, I love the having approved sample strategy for somebody and I love the layer of of having nearshore as well. Um Yeah, it just makes so much sense to have that. It's It's just like it's so obvious, but you you just don't you don't have a customer acquisition strategy if you don't have products, you know? So, so it's just having that built in just it really uh really matters. Um What did we not get to here? I'm also curious by the way if you have any um any stories of what you're doing with any brands right now or any ways you've already started to see this.

I know this kind of just happened, so you might still be in the middle of this with clients, but um but I you know, what did we miss? And and like I said, if you have any stories of sort of anything that you're working on right now with clients or anything like that that are relevant to this, I'd love to hear them. Yeah. So, we have a client who's transitioning from a US vendor to China and this happened. So, um we are relying on their DDP service and then suddenly suddenly this happened.

So, the impact is is of course huge, but the savings that we're getting from China is worth continuing. So, of course, that's what's going to happen is this client will go to China this April and we'll go with them too so that they meet their new vendors and identify negotiate in person. That's something that I hope owners can consider as well. Like, go to China, meet your vendor once, you will see the difference in that.

So, they will go there. Um and at the same time, um the number one that we're seeing right now and actually already feeling is the increase in prices. So, again, you have to really make sure that it is uh based on real scenarios and not just because they're trying to take advantage of this um situation. Aside from that, I I think our our vendors are already uh sorry, our clients and a lot of DTC brands are already very resilient coming from last year, Andrew.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I I didn't feel their panic like last year. Last year was really definitely um different. This year, I see more calm, more resilient DTC brands. So, I'm I'm quite very happy to see that because they're now more focused on solutions. Okay, we don't have DDP anymore. Let's Let's use our option B, which is shipping our own products using our own freight forwarder. Okay, now that we can't ship because it's expensive, let's use our second 3PL in China.

You know, they already have options because of last year and now they're just triggering those options that they have, which is really good. And I think if we continue doing that coming from this year's lesson, next year, whatever that will be disruption, then we are more prepared than ever. I think uh yeah, the DTC brands that that were here since the pandemic, it's it's going to be This is going to be a an easy disruption for them.

Just making sure that they are aware of their uh first few steps and it has to be done right away so that they don't have to incur costs. Speaking of last year, have you started in this might be now here, but have you started to try to get any money back from the tariff judgment that just happened in the US? Like, uh where the tariff were ruled unconstitutional and there's some refunds to be had. Like, this is a total topic shift and we didn't talk about this at all yet, Lara, but have you guys started to proceed this at all?

Yeah, we already have one brand who had refunded um a tariff. So, How much do you know? Can you tell me how much money were they refunded? Do you know? Um I cannot recall at this point, but it's it's it's I think between 20 to 30K USD. Awesome. Yes. So, um that's also another another priority of many brands right now is to make sure that they were able to they have the documents and you know, the advantage of having having your own invoices is very important at this point because that that's that's a requirement.

Uh if you're in DDP, of course, there's no there's no way that you can refund because we your your vendors has been absorbing that part of the tariff and so, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Um Yeah, awesome. Okay, where should people go if they want you to help them uh with all of these things? Whether it's negotiating right now or or building redundancies in their supply chain or whatever else. Like, you you have all this knowledge in this area.

One of the things I can hear happening from listeners right now as I'm talking is they're going like, that sounds awesome, Lara, but there's no chance in the world that I have time to go chase all that stuff down. But you can on their behalf uh Move Supply Chain. You've done it for the brand that I believe. Uh and and so, tell me where people should go and what they should be doing to um learn more about what you guys offer.

You know, so first um first I would I would invite you to listen to a lot of the videos that I created. I'm actually doing a lot recently in YouTube and it's free. So, even before you uh reach out to us, I would definitely tell you to watch those videos first because again, you're right, everything is is crumbling right now. There are more issues to prioritize and if it's this is not the right time for you to reach out, then those videos you can listen to while, you know, you're doing your personal errands.

Um it's uh I will give give you the link, but it's um youtube.com at supply chain Lara. And there's also a newsletter called Unboxed Weekly. I'll share the link also where I share >> links are in the show notes. I will tell people right now. So, yeah. Yes. And also, of course, movesupplychain.com. If you want to talk to us, we are definitely here not just for discovery calls, but if you have questions, um you can definitely reach out to us so we can we can respond.

We are going to China this April and also in October. So, if you have anything that you want us to look for, uh feel free to uh let us know so that we can include that in our trip. And yeah, I think the the the the parting advice that I'm going to share um right now before we end is if you're listening um right now, you have to um gather your finance, marketing, and supply chain right after this call and understand what is the impact of potential increases to your marketing launches and the effect of the additional um orders that you might need to do so to your finances.

Can you can you can your cash flow do this? So, connecting if it if it even if it's two person, one person, but make sure that supply chain, marketing, finance is is aligned right now because that's the only way that we can prioritize important ordering of of materials and stocks. Awesome. Uh thanks so much for doing this. I couldn't agree any more with that last bit of advice. Get people together, get planning, get it all in one spot.

Uh get on top of things. >> Don't leave your marketing behind because sometimes >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes you already know what's happening in your inventory and you forget to specially if you're working with an agency, you forget to let them know that, oh, this is running out and I'm not going to order. Yes, definitely. Definitely. Um okay, awesome, Lara. Um I will put all the links for everything you just said in this in the uh show notes for this so you can follow up to get Lara's newsletter, to get her videos on YouTube, and also to um and also to schedule a call with Lara and her team at Move Supply Chain.

I'm a huge fan. I've been working with Lara. Anybody who's listened to her watches podcast for any amount of time. I mean, you you probably have been the guest who's been on most often, so people should know you by now. Um and uh and uh and yeah, we uh I'm so grateful for you as always and grateful for your insight. You're the the person I know who actually knows something about this. So, yeah. Thanks, Lara. >> Thank you, Whitney.

Yeah.