Let us paint you a picture.

It's 8pm. You're in your home office. You close your laptop lid with a sigh of relief. Today went well – you fulfilled all the orders you received, each one with a personalised handwritten note. Your desk is a no man's land of scissors, labels, tape and bubble wrap – a testament to a job well done.

Time to unwind as only you know how (red wine? Bath bombs? A jigsaw puzzle of Alan Sugar's face? We're not judging.)

Then the unthinkable happens.

Your phone buzzes. You sigh again, your hopes for decompression temporarily dashed. A customer's order is six days late.

You stare into the void and the void blinks slowly back. How did this happen? It's unthinkable.

Thing is, this is far from unthinkable. When you're running a small business, it's all too thinkable. A day doesn't go by without you wondering – what if an order goes missing? What if I don't ship it on time? What if somebody places an order and then when I go to pack it up I realise it's out of stock?

It's all too thinkable because as the owner of a fledgling business you have to do everything. You're a marketing exec, IT department, product developer and more – all sharing the same tired body like some business-savvy alien host.

It's only natural that some tasks will slip through the cracks. You're human, all too human. But you know as well as we do that hell hath no fury like a customer whose order is delayed. At best, they won't buy from you again. At worst, they'll try and blacken your name with a mean-spirited review.

There are a few ways you can tackle this problem. You can recruit staff to help you. You can take a course in business management. You can buy a second pair of scissors and cut two pieces of sellotape at a time.

Or you can look into outsourcing fulfilment.

What is outsourcing fulfilment?

Outsourcing fulfilment is where you partner up with a 3PL – a third-party logistics firm. No, this isn't a company entirely dedicated to planning children's third birthday parties – it's a company whose mission is to make your life easier by taking routine tasks off your hands.

3PLs offer all sorts of services,  but there are two key ways in which they can help you to thrive.

Storage

3PLs offer warehouse space.

Now, you may think you're too small for warehouse space. Perhaps you're picturing some Amazon-style enormo-dome with row on row of goods.

Well, the first thing to say is that a good 3PL is flexible. You don't need to book any more space than you absolutely need.

Sure, if you're dispatching three orders a year then there's no point putting money into warehouse space. But if you're regularly fulfilling orders then it can help free up your time and energy – no matter how small your business.

Besides, you probably didn't go into business to stay small forever. You don't have to be a steely tycoon to want to expand – and when you do, you'll have more stock to store and more orders to pick, pack and dispatch.

Warehouse space is scalable in a way that your house or flat just isn't. As more orders come in, you can book more shelves with your name on them. And if you need to step back for whatever reason, you're able to scale down too.

Few things in life are black and white. There are advantages to storing stock at home when you're starting out. But if you're spending more time in the Post Office than your home office, it might be time to outsource.

And at least you'll be able to get your coat from under the stairs without stepping on a box of inventory.

Pick, pack and dispatch

Pick, pack and dispatch is the snap, crackle and pop of fulfilment. You're behind the scenes in the Rice Krispies factory turning the crank, okaying brand ideas and talking to suppliers. Your customers are out there somewhere, waiting for those reassuring sounds as they pour on the milk.

Outsourcing fulfilment can all but eliminate customer dissatisfaction. No, a 3PL won't design products for you – you're on your own there. But they will take care of shipping products to customers – and they've got the software to do it seamlessly.

Just as your business will grow beyond your spare room, your fulfilment process will grow too complex for a single Excel document. You want real-time updates on stock levels. You want automated notifications when orders are placed and dispatched. And you want easy access to data analytics.

All of these things are available to you when you partner up with a 3PL. Good data drives good decisions – and you can check in on your analytics 24/7.

You may be wondering what will happen to your online store. Do you have to abandon the online portal you've put so much into?

Simple answer: no. Warehouse management software can integrate with major eCommerce platforms – your Shopifys, your eBays and the rest. So there's no need to make any compromises on your online identity.

No more lunchtime trips to the Post Office with a boot-load of parcels. No more attempts to figure out which courier offers the best deal for a specific shipment. Just growing your business daily, without a sticky label in sight.

Packaging

You've put the hours into your branding. Your website is a peach. Your logo, unforgettable. But you struggle to make your packaging match your vision.

Does this sound like you? Then a 3PL can help.

Perhaps you want each order to have a natty label on the outside or an informative flyer within. Perhaps you have dreams of BOGOFs, subscription boxes or other bundles.

A 3PL can help you make these dreams come true. And if you choose the right partner, your packaging won't only be a sight for sore eyes, it will also be solid as a rock. No squashed or scuffed packages from you – not if we can help it.

We? Yes, we're a 3PL based in the southwest of England and we provide all this and more. So if you're interested in outsourcing small business fulfilment, please don't hesitate to get in touch.