Kim

Kim had built her third-party logistics and fulfilment business over seven years. eighteen people operating a fulfilment centre servicing ecommerce businesses, subscription box companies, and direct-to-consumer brands. the business had grown significantly as ecommerce volumes increased. the growth had created a team that was larger than Kim could manage personally but smaller than a structure that ran without her.

Kim was the account manager for every significant client. the operations team ran the warehouse floor well. every client communication above the routine (volume forecasts, rate discussions, service issues) came back to Kim. she was also the person who onboarded every new client personally, which meant the business could only grow at the speed Kim could onboard.

the pricing structure had a specific problem. Kim had been competing on price to win new clients for three years. her rates were below the market average by a margin she had never quantified. a competitor analysis showed her rates were 18% below the next comparable provider. the business was full (at near capacity) and still not generating the margin that the revenue suggested it should.

the client services manager managed eight client accounts in month three without Kim's involvement in any routine interaction. Kim onboarded one new client in month four (to show the new process worked) and then handed all subsequent onboarding to the client services manager. revenue grew from $3.9m to $5.2m in twelve months at a materially improved margin. Kim took ten days off in month eight. not one client called her directly.

the business had been growing at the wrong margin for three years because the pricing had been set to win rather than to sustain. the rate structure review took two weeks. the margin improvement was permanent from the first billing cycle it applied to.