In the world of business, there’s a lot that you need to get done. At first, when you’re the new kid on the block, it’s easy to manage most of this yourself. Because you kind of have to. You’re happy to work on your financial information one minute, then call up potential clients the next. It’s just the nature of being new to business. But as you start to grow, this isn’t always ideal.
Firstly, you may notice that you just don’t have the time to take on everything yourself anymore. And secondly, you may also need much more help too at the office or in the field. And when you need experts in to do the job, you have the hard decision to make of who exactly to choose to help you. If you’re ready to start hiring different suppliers throughout your business, but you’re just not sure how to go about it, let’s consider how you can make the right choice.
Do Some Research
The very first step that you’re going to want to take is to do some research. Because you may not even know what companies to approach in the first place. So just like you would research your competitors, you’re going to want to do the same for the potential suppliers. With your research done, you should find that you have a great starting point and companies to consider, whether they’re accountants or packaging suppliers.
Shop Around
As a part of your research, you’re going to want to shop around too. You need to consider companies that are at the top of their field, ones that are close to your business, big brands and even small companies. Because you never know who is going to be the best for you, and approaching this from a range of different angles will help you.
Read Testimonials
When you’re pulling together a bit of a shortlist, you should definitely think about reading testimonials. It’s not always easy to know what a potential supplier is going to be like to work with. And this is business, so you can never be too careful. So, you need to read any testimonials you can find from their current customers to get a good sense for who they are.
Use Your Contacts
Next up, you’re going to want to think about turning to any connections that you have too. Because you may have worked with people over the years that you know are great at what they do. So if you’re favorable to one marketing agency over another, don’t feel guilty. If you have previous experience with them, then you know you’re in safe hands. Or maybe it’s just one person that you’ve worked with before. Either way, knowing that they’re good at what they do can be great peace of mind.
Follow Social Accounts
Next, you could think about following your shortlisted company’s social media accounts. When you’re not sure what they’re going to be like as a supplier, you want to find out as much as you can before you make a decision. And that’s where social accounts can be great. You will be able to see what kind of personality they have, and whether they’re going to be the right kind of business to team up with.
Speak To Current Customers
As a step on from reading testimonials, you could think about speaking to the current customers of your potential suppliers too. You want to make sure your choice can be as competitive as an MSP that’s really going to make your business better. But you’re not always going to know this. So getting an honest perspective could be a great idea. Testimonials can be helpful, but they’re what the company want you to see. Whereas speaking directly to their customers is real, raw, and honest.
Meet Them
Next, you’re going to want to arrange a meeting with the companies. Because you can do all the digging you like, but you may find that you just don’t mesh when you finally meet. So ask to meet them and discuss their services. This is often the best way to help you decide.
Compare Pitches
Finally, depending on what they provide, you may also want them to pitch to you too. When you’ve seen their marketing or IT pitch, you should know whether they can fulfill the services and quality that you need. Sometimes, you can really like a person or a company, but they won’t be able to do the work you want. So getting a pitch is a great way to find that out and make the right choice.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to successfully select suppliers for your startup.
Interested in more articles about supply chain & logistics?
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