The Importance of Vendor Independence - Bill Black

Today we’re going to continue talking about your business developing independence to increase it’s “Sellability”. Today we are focusing on suppliers.

If your business is dependent
----more----on one or two key suppliers
(companies or independent consultants),  you are at their mercy.

Cultivating a bench of suppliers, on the other hand, means you will never feel beholden to anyone. Spread your business around - even if you lose some special pricing discounts. Neutrality is worth more than a few dollars in savings.

Here’s a question for you: How easy would it be to replace your most important external supplier?

 

Identify your most important raw materials. What other companies could supply them? How could you negotiate the same discounted rates from another supplier?

Talk about these questions with your Managers. Tomorrow we’ll talk about creating independence from your employees.