EDUCATION is the lifeblood for DSP operators.
I worked in a restaurant after college. On busy nights, the owner would help clear the prep stations, carry stacks of plates, and even run orders. Though I (naively) thought he was helping us avoid stress, it was an act of necessity to maintain efficiency, employee morale, and of course, profitability. DSP leaders are like the Chef-Owner. They're multi-faceted, dedicated, ambitious, and proud of their contribution to the community. They'll do whatever it takes.
But there's a key difference: AWARENESS.
Work ethic alone doesn't suffice with a risk profile and business model this diverse and complex. Threats to profitability and sustainability are hard to discern, and even when there's clarity, viable solutions can be elusive or enacted too late.
Investing in EDUCATION is therefore a lifeblood for DSP operators.
Why? Because without a working knowledge of the real DSP threats to profitability and business longevity, you’re tasked with thinking, acting, and planning like an industry veteran in a business sector still in its juvenile stage. The good news is, there are many resources available to leverage that have already been integrated on a wide scale in the broader transportation/logistics industry.
The ability to tap into a robust risk management landscape, the product of decades of development and evolution, is an incredible opportunity, but one that has not penetrated this Amazon DSP niche nearly at all.
As we've seen in Amazon Delivery Station in every region throughout the country, the result of risk mismanagement in the DSP arena can be catastrophic, and in many cases, lead to “voluntary exits” or in the worst cases, bankruptcy.
What's clear is DSP leaders' need to shift their mindset from betting on themselves to investing in themselves, from learning on the fly to plugging into a proven system, and above all, from chance and circumstance to intentional action.
