2020 was not easy, to be honest, we are one of the few companies lucky enough to survive last year. The Coronavirus ambushed us from nowhere and we weren't ready for it, no one was. Fortunately, we are a small business, so small that we were able to adjust to this unpredictable situation. With all the efforts and focus from every single one in the team, we made some breakthroughs last year and we would like to record our journey on this blog.
Starting 2020 with the coronavirus, we didn't realize how bad our business operation would become until the government began to implement the lockdown. Team members couldn't come to the office and warehouse. In the worst case, our scale was reduced to only two people in the office and warehouse, handling all the purchasing, inventory, and far most importantly - pack and ship out the orders to our dear customers. However, the bad news kept coming one after another - increased shipping costs, lack of inventory availability, more government lockdowns.
We understood that any customer purchasing from a small business like ours at that time is an act of great support and we could not let them down. We were so united and determined.
If shipping is an issue, we will find better shipping service providers and upgrade our system to reduce costs.
If inventory availability is an issue, we will reach out to more qualified suppliers.
If the workload is an issue, we will spend day and night to make sure packages get shipped. (Many of us did stay overnight in the office for months)
So we found a better shipper in January, upgraded our system in February, lowered our selling price in March, hired interns in June, renovated our warehouse in August and Stationery Pal resumed regular operation by the end of 2020.
Just like the immune system, our body triggers a defense mechanism when there is an invader. The whole coronavirus situation was like an intruder trying to destroy our business and somehow triggered Stationery Pal team to try everything we can to defend what we love. Looking back, we guess 2020 was a great lesson that forced Stationery Pal to grow and brought the team closer together.
2020 was hard, 2021 maybe even harder but we believe our future is bright. Let's accept the changes, embrace the changes, and may all of us have a better version of ourselves in 2021.
Lots of LOVE!💗
Stationery Pal Team
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