Like everyone else right now, the team here at Gooten is trying to figure out how, in our own small way, we can help the world get through the COVID-19 pandemic currently moving around the world. There are plenty of big things we can’t do — we can’t work on a cure, provide medical supplies to affected areas, or bring back March Madness.
However, one very scary side-effect of the coronavirus outbreak that we’re directly involved in is the potential economic impact. As the logistics and fulfillment provider for thousands of businesses — and in particular, many small businesses who can’t afford to lose money for very long — we’re uniquely positioned to help some vulnerable people get through this, and we wanted to take a minute to walk through exactly how and why.
Sleep easy — Gooten is built for adversity.
When something like a global pandemic strikes your world and your business, the last thing you have time to worry about is order fulfillment. That’s why Gooten’s entire team is 100% remote, our production is redundant and globally distributed, and our technology equipped to re-route orders in real time. So take care of your families and communities, and we’ll take care of your orders.
Control what you can, and mitigate what you can’t.
During the good times, we talk a lot about how Gooten’s model of a managed, distributed supply chain can make sure you don’t miss out on opportunities. When you get a ton of orders all of a sudden, you never want to lose that business because you don’t have sufficient capacity to get them fulfilled.
The flip side of this is that these same benefits apply in the hard times. A coronavirus pandemic isn’t the only reason a single source supply chain can fail, but it’s a very relevant one right now, and one that a lot of retailers and merchants are sweating bullets about, even as they also worry about more critical matters like their health and the well-being of their teams.
"We’re fully operational, continuing to fulfill everyone’s orders, and most importantly, ready to adjust quickly as the situation continues to develop."
We can’t control the hit to demand or order volume that comes with economic challenges, fear, and uncertainty (although like you, we’ll feel the impact — we’re partners in good times and bad, after all). But Gooten can control the successful fulfillment of the orders you do get. Why?
- our entire team, from engineers to account managers, is remote-first — we’re ready to work with no change to our usual readiness or operations
- our flexible production network is decentralized (on purpose, in good times and bad), and spread around the world, so it’s business as usual for us
- we have multiple manufacturers and redundancy for many popular products, and the ability to move orders as they come in
- we have the ability to quickly and easily add new manufacturers and additional redundancy, and plug them in to our existing network
- despite all these options, there is nothing Gooten partners have to do to take advantage of them; we’re still responsible for routing your orders through the most efficient, reliable path
In short, Gooten’s managed, distributed supply chain makes us inherently better at adjusting to shocks, whether that’s a sudden shutdown of a popular supplier, or a “black swan” event like the current coronavirus pandemic. That doesn’t make us (or anyone) invincible, but it does make us very, very resilient — especially when compared to other providers, or a supply chain you manage yourself.
"We’re fully operational, continuing to fulfill everyone’s orders, and most importantly, ready to adjust quickly as the situation continues to develop."
Gooten is ready, and will stay ready.
All of this is why the short version of “is Gooten okay?” during the current crisis is an unquestioned “yes”. We’re fully operational, continuing to fulfill everyone’s orders, and most importantly, ready to adjust quickly as the situation continues to develop.
It’s unavoidable that if you sell physical goods online, changes to your supply chain are coming. Our commitment to you (and all our partners) is that Gooten will continue to give your business as many options as possible, and allow you to take advantage of them automatically, without worrying about the best way to get your orders fulfilled.
Gooten is built specifically to handle adversity like what today’s on-demand supply chains are facing. We don’t relish that reality, and we look forward to the day when our people, systems, and network can focus more on seizing opportunity than mitigating potential disasters. But we’re ready for what’s here, and we’ve been ready for a long time.
So here’s to working together. As citizens, communities, and businesses, it’s going to take a lot to get through this unscathed. We’re ready to do our part.
