Over the Line
So, what are your real feelings about the law?
Most people have a knee-jerk reaction to this. They think about the fact they can no longer enjoy a cigar in public or grumble about the recent tax hike. In fairness, sometimes new laws can be a valid source of debate about if they actually accomplish what they are imposed for.
But a few minutes of consideration can reveal how useful laws can be. Law, order, and policing can keep us safe, while judicial penalties help potential criminals maintain some semblance of communal respect. While not all laws bring smiles to our faces, quite a few more serve their purposes well.
For people running their own business, the law can be downright confusing. If you’ve ever picked through a law student’s course notes and textbooks, it’s a lot of rummage through, let alone remember for the bar exam. It’s hard for business pros to keep up on legalities as a result, especially when it comes to what they can and cannot do professionally. Sometimes, they just wing it and hope they don’t receive a visit from the local police.
Product fulfillment pros need to keep up on legal matters, period—there’s no real way around it. With so many business interactions to be done and so many connections to be made, both with clients or associates, having at least some knowledge of the law is crucial. It’s not much, but it’s certainly important.
Rules and Regulations
You don’t have to be a lawyer, or even a law student, to get hip to certain product fulfillment laws; you just have to do some homework.
It’s good to think in terms of legal fulfillment management. Knowing your products and what your fulfillment center needs to do to acquire, package, and ship them might require you to know what sizes, quantities, and product types are allowed by law. Mail-order fulfillment often has certain requirements, like some restricted products requiring authorization to ship. Make sure you get these rules down before anything.
There’s also a lot to be said about knowing the legalities of logistics management. The laws regarding mail-order fulfillment and transportation logistics can change a lot if your products are crossing certain borders. It’s all well and good that you have paying clients worldwide, but make sure you comply with international shipping laws so that your products don’t get stopped at checkpoints before reaching their destination.
Free Consultation
Successful fulfillment management in product fulfillment from a legal perspective means performing extensive research. Most necessary information can be found by reading government web sites or publications. If you think you should retain a lawyer for some matters, go for it, but look into free consultations beforehand.
It might be worth noting that, above all else, be sure to keep your business legal. It sounds cliché, but the temptation to try and bend the law in one’s favor through illegal fulfillment practices or dodgy associates has seen more than one fulfillment pro pay the price. It’s safer and easier in the long run to just not bother.
When all is said and done, saving yourself from legal hassles will keep your reputation in check, your regular clientele coming in, and you out of court and jail. That combination is a good legal position to have.
Need solutions to your product fulfillment problems? APS Fulfillment, Inc has the knowledge and services to make your direct mail and product fulfillment ventures more successful. Contact APS Fulfillment, Inc by e-mail at [email protected], visit their web site at www.apsfulfillment.com, or phone at (954) 582-7450.
