Regardless of what kind of business and in what area you are going to develop, the criteria for choosing a supplier must be known as accurately as possible. Indeed, in any case, those people who will supply you with raw materials or various finished products, in many respects depend on how successful your business will be. To make it clear how important this issue is, a couple of examples can be given.
Butcher shop
If we are talking about a newly created butcher's shop, the main criteria for choosing a supplier in this case will help us find a supplier of really good goods. Regardless of how much money you invested in advertising, and how wide the range of products you offer, if you can’t ensure the appropriate quality of the products, then it’s unlikely that you will be able to turn one-time customers into regular ones. At the same time, every successful businessman knows that, first of all, it is necessary to strive specifically to build up a large base of regular customers, therefore, the criteria for choosing a supplier are one of the most important, and they should pay attention first.
Furniture manufacturing
The same example. You try to offer your customers the most interesting ratio of quality and price of your products, but you are unlikely to be able to produce really high-quality and at the same time inexpensive furniture if you could not correctly determine the criteria for choosing a supplier and you are supplied with low-quality material.
Thus, when it comes to the manufacturing sector, suppliers of raw materials or various components will play an extremely important role. There are a lot of such examples, and each of them clearly shows how important it is to really correctly resolve this issue. That is why you need to know the main points that you should pay attention to when choosing a responsible supplier.
Where and how to search?
Initially, I would like to consider some useful tips from qualified specialists who know what a direct supplier should look like. The majority of experienced entrepreneurs who have been working in their business for a long time adhere to such strategies.
First of all, you should understand that the importance of different criteria is different in each separate field, but in general, each of them is important to one degree or another, and ultimately will affect the success of your business.
Categories
You must first understand which categories exist. There are three of them:
- Direct supplier;
- Reseller (they are most often found);
- Exclusive supplier.
Of course, it will work best with the direct supplier, as in this case you will be provided with the maximum possible range of goods, as well as the most attractive prices and various discounts. But here there are some nuances. In the vast majority of cases, such companies work directly only with large enough, in their opinion, customers, and in addition, the manufacturer can work in another region, country or even on some other continent, which can greatly complicate your cooperation.
In order to be as close as possible to their customers, serious companies prefer to work through various exclusive representatives of their products in different cities and countries. For this reason, in many situations, it will be most optimal to conduct settlements with suppliers of this type. In this case, you will also receive reasonable cost, favorable conditions and a wide variety of discounts from the manufacturer.
Not every entrepreneur who has just opened his own business can conclude an agreement with such suppliers, because, as mentioned above, large organizations conduct settlements with suppliers of this level. Probably, for this reason, the overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs are forced to conclude agreements with various resellers.
Price
When concluding an agreement with suppliers, you should be guided by the cost of the products offered to you, and choose the offer that will provide you with the opportunity to receive the expected profit, and at the same time give your customers really high-quality goods at a normal price. Browse offers from several suppliers, and then select the best offer for the ratio of price and quality.
Minimum volume
Quite often, you need to pay special attention to the minimum order quantity. It is often much more profitable to buy a small consignment of goods with a small margin than to spend a large amount of money on the purchase of a large consignment of goods, which subsequently will be completely unclaimed.
Supply chain
When choosing a supplier, special attention should be paid to the supply chain. Immediately try to study the proposals and conclude an agreement with suppliers who can independently deliver the goods to you at the best price. This is especially true for those suppliers whose representative offices are at a fairly large distance from you. In addition, take an interest in how far their warehouse is located, because the speed and frequency of deliveries of raw materials or any finished products will directly depend on this.
Range
The assortment is one of the most important criteria. It is quite natural that it is better to cooperate with those companies that can offer you the widest choice, because among insignificant companies there are often unscrupulous suppliers, and in principle, a small choice significantly limits your possibilities. Even if at this stage the question of choice is not very important for you, do not forget that in the process of developing your business this question can be very acute.
Among other things, you should also inquire about the conditions and methods of payment, guarantees for the products provided, the work schedule, as well as ask a question regarding the return of defective products. And only then, based on the results, make a decision about whether this provider is right for you. Also, always strive to work directly with the manufacturer, if possible, because, in addition to the ideal ratio of price and quality, unscrupulous suppliers will not bother you.
Next, we will consider some useful tips that will definitely help you in the process of choosing a responsible supplier.
Determine product quality from other partners
Ask any businessman what is most important in the process of choosing a supplier, and everyone will answer you that the most important thing is the quality of the products, but at the same time many do not know what exactly lies behind this broad concept.
For example, if we are talking about any long-term production, you can not look at the brightness of the pictures in the catalog or the freshness of the goods offered, but go to some store and look at the appearance of the products from this supplier, which are used for a long time time. At the same time, you should not pay attention to indicative products, but to randomly selected ones. Thus, you can immediately understand which products are really high quality and which are not.
Any product deteriorates over time, so it becomes immediately noticeable how high-quality materials and components are used by this supplier, as well as somewhat responsible for its work. It is highly recommended that specialists devote several hours to conducting such an experiment to determine if your criteria for selecting suppliers of products for a company meet. Indeed, in many areas, such a situation is often found that it is much easier to produce products with an attractive appearance than to ensure really high quality and durability.
Is there any product in stock?
The vast majority of suppliers have their own warehouse, which stores the most popular and stably purchased products.
It is important to make sure that the stock of the company you select is enough for the supplier to be able to provide you with an uninterrupted supply of goods, and logistics is an important issue in this case. The choice of a supplier is best done in your region so that the goods can not only be provided to you as needed, but also done so in the shortest possible time.
At the same time, do not forget that your company is not the only one on the market, and you have competitors, therefore this supplier will most likely need to supply these products to other companies as well. That is why you must make sure that the stock balance is approximately 5 times larger than your order. Only in this case you can be really confident in the stability and reliability of this supplier.
Affordable budget
If you have determined that the company meets the basic criteria for selecting a supplier, in the process of negotiations initially tell me what budget you are looking for for the contract. This approach is much more effective compared to the organization of tenders in which several companies will collide with each other, because in fact, in the course of such a tender, an agreement is often concluded between a completely unsatisfied customer and a disadvantaged supplier, which often leads to far from better consequences.
Describe your budget, and also provide your potential partner to coordinate the specification with the operating organization. Thus, the rationale for choosing a supplier will allow you to maintain the rate of return, as well as get rid of the subsequent difficulties associated with the delivery of the object. In other words, you should trust specialists with a good reputation, and then, based on the result of their work, assess the level of professionalism.
How competent is the manager?
If a truly competent manager works with you, you can be sure that this will save you money and will allow you to avoid quite a large number of different errors. Why should the customer do what the supplier can do? Thus, the criteria for evaluating the choice of a supplier should include the professionalism of the manager and the number of “options” available to you.
For example, you can ask if the manager can prepare a presentation, make an agreement, collect all the necessary signatures, and also design your future work.If such opportunities really will be provided to you - this is a very good sign, which, among other things, will increase your status in the professional sphere. In addition, you should definitely pay attention to how quickly and correctly the employee answers the questions, because it directly characterizes his interest in your future cooperation, and also partially provides you with insurance that you won’t have to pay yourself after receiving the money run after the supplier.
Delivery time, minimum advance payment
Quite often, the actual result may differ significantly from the declared one, and in order not to get an unexpected surprise in the supply process, you should ask in advance not only for some nominal period, but, in addition, for binding to a specific date. Some seasonal markets are unstable, and the timing of them can vary quite a lot. But at the same time, a large stock supply will help smooth out a strong increase in terms. If it is not there, but the supplier claims that the delivery time will be extremely short, you should already think about its good faith.
