This evening after close of business we received a phone call that the audit we have been working towards will happen either Monday or Tuesday next week. The prospective client wants to decide on their new supplier as quickly as possible and we would like to be that suppler.

The volume is what I am chasing as this could easily be worth around 25% of our entire production volume and handing it to a competitor would be gut wrenching. I was realistically expecting another week or so, but poor communication on someone handling the account is out of our hands. I kind of got the feeling they do not care either way who gets the deal. There may be a tinge of jealousy seeing how well we have coped up till now and I may have added to that saying to this person over a zoom meeting we don't need advice from ex suppliers of the same product.

I do truly believe our product is of a better standard than what our competitors are producing and would have loved an extra week for the new textile waste to arrive. Tuesday is not in the time frame for that to happen and need to come up with some other wow factors over the weekend.

Whatever happens the time spent on Monday is gong to be crucial and guaranteed it will be a long days work heading into the night. The part I hate is not being given enough time to show what we can do and knowing this client it would take a good 12 months to land the contract if we miss out next week. This is a big deal as they are the 3rd biggest punching bag client by volume in the country. We already have the number one and two and adding number 3 would be ideal for what I have planned.

Finding Your Edge

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The problem is I have no idea how the other assembly plants look, but I do know the weight we offer is heavier than the other competitors. Like everything there is shrinkflation happening even in this industry and a large bag used to be 20kg' and is now 18-19kg's. We are slightly over 20kg's charging for 18kg's and every bag is checked being slightly over weight. That for me is a better selling point as 20kg's was the standard weight. The same principle applies to the bigger and heavier bags and is kind of undercutting the competition by not copying their reduced weight, but the cost is still the same.

Large - Bag is 90cm in length and weight is approximately 19kg.

Approximately so it could be less and I would bet money it is under 19kg's.

Myself I think it is madness because reducing the weight charging the same price is robbing the client at the end of the day and works out to literally a difference of $0.3c that I am throwing away. I am just adding 1kg extra of river sand which is cheap, but it keeps the weight sizes standard which I feel is important. Consumers get screwed enough and why when it is such a small amount. The volume is what drive my costs down and will gladly give them a extra kilogram or two for free to land the contract.