Taking a page from UPS

In The World is Flat, Friedman brings to light several eye opening cases of business evolution. One of which is how UPS has developed new revenue streams & efficiencies by embedding its services within other businesses.

That Papa John’s truck you see around town & on the interstates? That’s not a Papa John’s employee – it’s a UPS guy who has been trained by the Papa John’s company to haul their supplies.

And that Toshiba laptop you sent off to be repaired under warranty doesn’t go all the way back to Toshiba. It goes to a local facility where UPS employees who’ve been trained by Toshiba fix them up. & that was UPS’s idea to save transport costs.

Win-win hits home

Habitat for Humanity here in Wake County has a service to offer to those doing kitchen renovations. Their team will come in, remove existing cabinets & fixtures carefully, & unwanted appliances.

They’ll also disconnect utilities & leave the place clean & ready for the reno team. They’re insured & licensed.

We demo’d a kitchen this week & used Habitat’s decon service. It saved the homeowner money, give them a tax write off for the donation, & saved the contractor time & resources.  For $300! What’s not to love?