Posted by Robert Bylett at 7:35 AM
in Business Owner, Efficient Business Systems, Profitable, Small Business, Suppliers
Whether your suppliers provide food for a restaurant, raw industrial materials for a manufacturer or marketing materials for a professional service, the success of your business depends on having a good, trusting relationship with your suppliers. When your suppliers’ products end up in the hands of your clients, your clients see them as yours; they have no knowledge of the originating company. Therefore, if the products are substandard – or even bad – then that reflects directly on you.
When you build strong relationships with your suppliers, they will be more willing and open to helping you, saving you money, and giving you the best products they have. If your suppliers see you only as a revenue stream or, worse yet, as a problem customer, then you never know what you’re going to get. Who hasn’t had a bad day, gone into a restaurant, been ruder to their wait staff than they would under normal circumstances and then wondered if they spit in their food? Luckily – in this situation – you don’t have to worry about passing that food onto your customer as representative of you not knowing if it’s the best quality!
Continue reading "Treating Your Suppliers like Vendors to be Easily Replaced Could be the Death of Your Business" »
Posted by Robert Bylett at 7:56 AM
in Business Owner, Economy, Efficient Business Systems, Happiness, Profitable, Suppliers
You’ve likely seen stories in the news about major companies
extending the amount of time before they will pay their suppliers for the
materials they’ve purchased – sometimes even by double! In an economy where sales are down and cash
flow is tight, that probably sounds like a smart business decision, right? Not likely.
Although large companies could probably get away with it
because of their size and power, the ultimate cost still makes it a bad
decision no matter what size your company is.
First, just because you choose to pay later, that doesn’t mean that the
supplier will willingly adjust the finance charges and late fees they impose on
payments made beyond their acceptable terms.
So it literally costs more to pay later.
Continue reading "Keeping Your Suppliers Happy is Crucial in a Bad Economy" »
