How to define your suppliers?
Do you know how to choose a supplier? This partner is very important for your business to offer quality products to customers. In today’s article, we will talk about the importance of choosing a supplier, the advantages of having a trustworthy business partner and how you can choose a supplier for your company.
This post is part of our series of articles for those who are starting a business from scratch, want to know how to set up a business or already have a company and want to optimize their results. You can access other articles to help entrepreneurs with initial decisions, which are very important for the success of the business, in this link, on defining the market to operate in, and in this link, on what is needed to open a business.
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The importance of choosing a supplier
If you have a store, you know that one of the most important elements for the quality of a small business’s products is the raw materials. In this sense, suppliers are fundamental players in ensuring this aspect.
Therefore, you need to pay close attention when choosing a supplier. Don’t rush this process, because choosing any business partner can be more work later. Take the time now to make this selection to save time in the future.
Suppliers who delay delivery, who create various obstacles in the partnership with your store or who do not share your company’s values can become a headache for the business.
Furthermore, you are likely to have frequent contact with your suppliers and, therefore, the relationship with them needs to be balanced and beneficial for both sides. The idea is that, over time, this relationship will strengthen and you will become loyal business partners. Therefore, all your partners must be treated with equal care, after all, everyone there is cooperating to make your business run, from the supplier of the simplest label to the one who supplies you with the finest fabrics.
Advantages of relying on trusted suppliers
Relying on trusted suppliers brings a series of benefits to small businesses, such as:
Furthermore, by establishing a relationship of trust with your suppliers, they tend to prioritize your company, because they will always want to offer the best for you. For example, when a fresh product arrives, the supplier can call you to let you know.
How to choose a supplier
Now that you understand the importance of suppliers for your business, we have some tips for you to select the best partners for your company. Check out!
Search for references
To choose a supplier, it is important to talk to other entrepreneurs and seek recommendations from reliable business partners.
Make a list of qualities you look for in suppliers and ask other retailers if they have any suppliers with these characteristics to recommend, both in terms of prices, service and quality of the products provided.
Follow social media
To evaluate potential suppliers, you can make a list from references obtained from other entrepreneurs and also from an internet search.
From there, go to the social networks of these suppliers, see the posts and comments on the posts. This can provide an idea about the quality of the products and service offered.
Browse the website
Continuing your online research on potential suppliers, visit these companies’ websites to gather more information and feed your table. The website usually provides additional data about the business’s values. This is important to check whether the future supplier is aligned with your company’s values, mission and purpose.
This type of information is important to sustain a long-term relationship. Therefore, do not neglect this aspect.
Set up a conversation
Based on the information found in your research, filter some suppliers that are most aligned with what you are looking for and schedule a conversation with them. This strategy aims to identify the most suitable partners and eliminate those that do not make sense for your company from your list.
During this conversation, explain what you need and listen to the proposal the other side has for your company. It is important to be frank and objective with suppliers to save time on both sides. Furthermore, go to the negotiation table knowing what you want and what your limits are in relation to the conditions of this partnership, such as deadlines, amounts and payment methods .
Make a budget
The price charged by suppliers does not need to be the only factor in choosing the ideal business partner, but this aspect should weigh in on your decision. Therefore, before negotiating with suppliers , make a plan and see how much you can spend.
Then, ask for a quote from the suppliers you liked the most and evaluate each of the proposals, considering the prices and conditions offered. If necessary, you can try to negotiate a discount for the first month of partnership, for example. If the relationship with the supplier is good during this period, you can extend the relationship and renegotiate the prices. Another important point is that prices are generally much more competitive when the negotiation is for a high volume, so plan in advance and look for these discounts.