Category: Business/Entrepreneurship

5 Recycling Tips for Businesses

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Even businesses who become more digital and green, generate wastes. Efficiently doing so can be efficient for operations and profits. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Recycling Tips for Businesses.

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In recent times, more and more businesses are going green, not just because it’s viewed as a social responsibility, but it’s ultimately the right thing to do. One of the major practices businesses take up once they go green is recycling. Altogether, recycling is a very important step to take to reduce overall waste production on a larger scale.

This is especially useful because offices are known for generating a huge amount of waste on a daily basis, and recycling is able to cut that amount by at least half. If you are looking for ways to ensure that your business is environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible, here are 5 helpful recycling tips for businesses.

1. Go over your paper consumption
Paper contributes to one of the highest forms of waste produced in an office. This is why your business needs to be more conscious of the amount of paper it consumes. One practical action you can take is to incorporate measures that limit excessive paper consumption.

So, instead of printing out documents and files, encourage your workers to use emails and online document sharing platforms instead. You can also use pull printing technology so that all print jobs are user-activated. Why? Well, up to 30 percent of print jobs are never even collected, so this can drastically reduce printing volume.

2. Carry out a waste audit
As much as businesses try to recycle, sometimes, they still end up producing a large amount of waste as a result of throwing out materials that can actually be recycled. Yes, paper, plastic, and metal are commonly recycled materials, but businesses could honestly recycle more. A waste audit educates everyone in the office about waste production as well as other kinds of materials that can be recycled.

3. Choose a good recycler
Your business can partner with a recycling company that will, in turn, provide them with waste management advice. They can equally ensure that the company produces zero waste to landfill. Nevertheless, before choosing a recycling or waste management company, you need to carry out some research to make sure that they are the right fit for your business.

Some things to consider include whether your recycler is environmentally friendly and if they are an efficient, reliable, and professional business. You can read more here from this recycling and waste management company.

4. Collect organics
Recycling is one thing, but having your business collect organic food waste is another platform for it to go green. Organic food waste includes things like coffee grounds, tea bags, food scraps, and even cup sleeves. Collecting these types of compost waste can potentially put your business on the road towards achieving zero waste.

5. Centralise recycling bins
There’s nothing worse than wanting to recycle but not having a recycling bin close by. One very easy action that your business can take is to centralize the recycling bins. Ensure that they are placed in positions where everyone in the office can see and access. This will encourage employees to recycle more and can lead to less waste production.

Re-Opening Your Dental Practice After COVID-19

Three key focuses of my blog are Current Events, Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Much of the healthcare sector has stayed open during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Crisis/Pandemic. Dental practices in most instances closed down unless absolutely necessary. As the lockdown eases, dental practices will look to re-open and if you’re an owner of one, there are some aspects you want to consider. The following contributed post is entitled, Re-Opening Your Dental Practice After COVID-19.

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As the coronavirus lockdown rules start to relax even further it opens up opportunities for businesses and services to start back up. One of the first things that will open up is the healthcare system. Obviously, doctors surgeries, hospitals, and pharmacies have remained open through the pandemic. However, the wider healthcare world had to shut down – including dental practices in some areas. If you’re a dentist that’s struggled for business over the last few months, you’re probably eager to get started once more. So, here are some tips to open your dental practice when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted:

Stock up on PPE

First and foremost, be sure you have a good supply of PPE. This includes both masks and gloves, seeing as all of your work involves playing around with people’s mouths. Masks are absolutely vital, but gloves are just as important when you consider what you’ll be touching. A dental supply store will stock everything you need, so don’t hesitate to buy as much as possible. As of right now, PPE supplies are a lot better than they were when the virus initially broke out. But, who knows how long that will last? It’s better to stock up now so you can keep providing treatment for as long as possible.

Enforce new appointment rules

It’s so tempting to jump right back into the swing of things when you open your doors after lockdown. However, you have to take things slow. Don’t open your practice up for a full day of appointments, restrict how many people you see each day. Yes, this means you miss out on lots of money, but safety must come first. You need to plan it so there’s a small number of people in the waiting room at all times. This will probably mean you have to extend the time between appointments to avoid lots of people coming in at the same time. Instead of having 10 minutes between appointments, extend it to 20 or 30. As time goes on you can gradually move things back to normal as per the government guidelines.

Reduce your staff

A lot of businesses are doing this as it reduces the number of people all within one area. Obviously, a dental practice can be pretty small, so you can’t afford to have lots of dentists, nurses, and admin staff all running around. Furthermore, it would be pretty pointless if you’re operating on a reduced schedule. Instead, reduce your staff and come in with a smaller crew. Again, this limits the risk of infections and keeps things safe for everyone. You may only need yourself and a secretary for the time being. Once more, you can increase your staff as the appointments get back to normal.

It has been an incredibly difficult time for all dentists during coronavirus. If you’ve not been allowed to work throughout this period, then you probably can’t wait to get started again. Keep an eye out for any news in your country that lets you get back to work. Then, follow these three tips when you re-open.

Four Benefits From Hiring A Website Designer

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. When you’re first starting out, it can make sense to do everything yourself based upon something like costs for example. Once your business gets big enough though, it may be smart hire professional help. If for example you have a website, you might want to consider hiring a website designer. The following contributed post is entitled, Four Benefits From Hiring A Website Designer.

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With any business, the website is one of the most important things to have, especially when so many of us are now online. It’s good to hire a website designer to make your website really stand out from the crowd and to build the reputation and awareness of your business. Here are four benefits of hiring a website designer.

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It’ll Be High-Quality

With a website design, it needs to look the best, and when you’re paying for web designs, it’s better to get one custom-made than buy a pre-made one. The reason why is because that pre-made one is likely going to be used by lots of different individuals and businesses. You also have the issue of it being restrictive in what you might want to achieve with your own website. As much as pre-made versions can be good and more affordable, paying for the services of a Squarespace web designer, for instance, is going to be a lot more effective. You’re going to be able to get a say in all aspects of it, and it’s a design that’s being made from scratch. It’s exclusively yours, and so no one is going to be copying you.

Helps Make It Reliable & Responsive

You want to impress your customers, but you also want to be enticing new customers or those that happen to come across your website. It’s good to have a website that’s reliable and responsive, and that’s something that can be achieved by hiring a website designer. There’s nothing more frustrating than browsing a website that has a lack of functionality to it or broken links, for example. You want every opportunity that a customer or new customer takes to be one that’s enjoyable and easy for them when they hop on to your site.

Saves Time

There’s a lot that as a business, you have to contend with, and design a website isn’t something your design team has time to do. Not only that, but not all businesses will have design teams or experience to take on such a challenge. By having a website designer who can do it for you, it’s taking off some of that pressure and is a good element of the business to outsource. Outsourcing can be a great way to get things done by having to compromise simply because you have got the resources in-house.

Gives You A Competitive Edge

Giving yourself that competitive edge is essential nowadays because there are so many businesses and individuals out there. When it comes to competition, it’s important to be the very best and to remain relevant. By having a website custom-made and tailored to your brand and company, it’s setting you up for success and to stay ahead of the competition too.

Hiring a website designer for your next website revamp is essential and should be something you really consider investing in. The future is definitely online, and so it’s important to make the face of your business that is your website, look the very best it can be.

How To Utilise Your Green Space For Business Success

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you have green space, it might make the ideal location for your business. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Utilise Your Green Space For Business Success.

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You’ve either chosen to invest in a vacant plot of land or you’ve inherited a plot of land, either way you are most probably feeling unsure about the potential options for utilising that land. Coming into a high-quality piece of land in a great area gives you the opportunity to launch a business from the ground up. It won’t be easy, however if you are serious about making a success of a new venture, then you might want to consider getting creative and coming up with a unique business concept.

The good news is that for a free plot of land, there are plenty of business ideas that you could leverage to build a highly successful brand. In need of a little inspiration? Below are a number of business ideas that should allow you to utilise your green space and craft a business from the ground up.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Farm Shop

If your piece of land gets a vast number of passersby, then a good option to consider is to launch a farm shop on the plot of land. There’s a great call for high-quality, luxury farm shops selling local, organic and unique produce, from fruits and vegetables to meats and dairy, and everything in between. You could always opt to start out small with a produce stand or shack, and then as the business grows, move into a larger venue.

Build a golf course

Are you someone who is passionate about sport? If you are, then you might want to consider converting your green space in a beautifully designed golf course. Yes, this would require a lot of hard work, and a lot of investment, but the potential for success is incredible. You would need funds for building the course – you’d need to hire a specialist landscaper, you would need materials funds such as to buy high quality silica sand, for instance, and you would need a strong and well throughout business plan in place.

Create a campsite

Perhaps your plot of vacant land is located in an area that’s popular with tourists, if so then you could consider creating a camp ground. Of course, if you want to create a camping experience that is successful and beats out competitors, you would need to think carefully about the approach that you take. Right now, luxury campsites are extremely popular, as is glamping, so it could be worth investigating what going down this route would cost.

Run summer camps

If you are someone who has experience working with young people, then you might want to consider the idea of running summer camps from your plot of land. Whether it’s a sports-focused summer camp or something more diverse, it doesn’t matter – if you get the design aspect of your summer camp right, you could create a highly successful business.
There you have it, a few simple ideas for how you could utilise your plot of green space to launch and run a highly successful business. Take the time to think your options through carefully, and map out your route to success, before you start investing in your business idea.

Finding Your Business Niche in an Increasingly Competitive World

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Business is as much about competition as it is about generating profit. It’s thus important to think out your niche to give yourself the best competitive advantage. The following contributed post is entitled, Finding Your Business Niche in an Increasingly Competitive World.

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When people start businesses, they tend to have a couple of good ideas that tend to fail after a bit of serious thinking. This is fairly normal; it shows that we’re optimistic as entrepreneurs, but it does highlight a fatal flaw in our approach to developing business ideas; they’re simply not realistic. If they are, they demand a lot of money, exposure and time to flourish. Unfortunately, “time” is difficult to gauge when it comes to business success. You could plant the seeds of a promising business idea, only to realize that it grows into a world that no longer needs it.

As such, finding a business niche can be incredibly difficult these days. Trying to apply your set of skills to something unique that draws in customers can be challenging, and there’s often no safety net for you to fall back on when it comes to investing your hard-earned cash into something unknown. So how do you find a niche these days? Or is it better to forever stay in the shadows of a larger business doing something that can guarantee enough success to live off?

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What do you really want from your business?

This is perhaps the most important question to ask yourself; what do you want from your business? One of the most common answers is money. The other is because you’re passionate about something. Someone might want to start a clothing business because they’ve identified a niche, but in reality, they’re not exactly passionate about it; they’ve just found an opportunity that makes them more money. On the other hand, someone might start a business because they’re truly passionate about a subject, but they ignore the fact that it might be a niche with not enough exposure or active consumers.

So we have to ask the question; what do you really want from your business? Are you willing to do something you’re not passionate about for the money, or are you going to chase your passions and accept the fact you might be making less money than something more generic?

The solution is simple; do what you do passionately and you’ll find a niche

No matter what you want from a business, doing it passionately and reframing your approach is the key to success. If you’re in the business of senior care, then high-quality aged-care refurbishments, vetting and hiring the right employees and taking an active approach to caring for your clients is going to show that you’re passionate. If you’re a fashion company, focusing on things such as sustainable production, low prices and avoiding any morally-questionable activities (such as cheap overseas labor) will reel in the customers and show that you’re truly passionate about the subject.

On the other hand, if your passion is for success and money, then that’s perfectly fine too. Use every strategy that you can to build a large audience, identify opportunities as soon as they appear and optimize your approach to business to feed your hunger.

Smart Strategies to Grow Your Construction Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A business sector that will likely endure is the construction sector. A with any business though, you have to have a strategy for growth. The following contributed post is entitled, Smart Strategies to Grow Your Construction Business.

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Do you want to expand your existing construction business or get through the first year of the new operation? If you’re not sure quite where to start, these strategies are ones to consider:

Create a Client Prospect List

Let’s say that someone calls your business asking for a quote. Ask for their contact details, including their name and their preferred method of contact, such as email or phone.

Add them to your list of prospects, along with setting up an email list on your website. At the same time, put a contact form on your list so that it’s easy for people to reach you. Also, when you are networking at events, ask those who you speak with if you add them to your email list.

Then, send weekly updates of value to the list, such as industry news or an award your company recently earned. Customize messages and offers, as appropriate, all with the strategy to build long-term relationships that can increase sales over time.

Finance Equipment

The right equipment is essential to the growth of your business, but you might not be at a point yet where you can afford to purchase new or upgrade the existing equipment. In this case, equipment financing can be a great way to stay competitive in your industry, whether you need bulldozers, forklifts, tractors, or other type of gear.

If you decide to buy used heavy equipment, ensure it has clear title, and test and inspect it before purchase, if possible, to ensure it’s in good condition. Get heavy equipment keys and key sets for OEM and aftermarket ignitions from a reputable seller too.

Strengthen Your Website

Take a serious look at your website. Is it responsive (mobile-friendly), and does it have an intuitive design? If not, then it’s time for an update.

Also, make sure that you have photos of completed construction projects you have completed on the website to showcase your team’s abilities. Photographs can often be more powerful than words. Make sure too that your site indicates clearly how to contact you and what is the best way to place an order so that the visitor can take that initial step.

Call Monitoring

By looking at the inbound and outbound calls your employees are making, you can boost customer levels dramatically. Call recordings can indicate where you need to invest in staff training to get more leads, as well as how to grow your repeat customer rates.

Of course, always be transparent with your team that calls are monitored and have them explain that at the start of any phone conversations. Call monitoring can help strengthen relationships with customers.

You might see more up-selling successes down the road, too, as you build brand loyalty. If sales training courses are needed, it is well worth the investment.

Growing Your Construction Company

From improving client communication to building a stronger online presence, your construction business now has insights into ways to grow and evolve. Now you have to create a business plan that details what steps you will take and when so that you stay on track. Wishing you all the best with your organization.

Is Your Business Premises Disability-Friendly?

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The amount of traffic visiting your business could be impacted by whether or not your business is disability-friendly. There are a couple of accommodations you must make to achieve this. The following contributed post is entitled, Is Your Business Premises Disability-Friendly?

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Businesses need to take steps to ensure that their company is inclusive to all. By not considering the needs of disabled customers and employees, you could be missing out on business opportunities – plus it could cause damage to your reputation if somebody complains.

There are many improvements that businesses can make to their premises to make it more disability-friendly. Here are just a few improvements to consider.

Add ramps and lifts

Those with mobility issues may not be able to use stairs. It’s worth considering the option of adding wheelchair ramps and lifts where possible. This could be particularly important if certain essential facilities cannot be accessed without taking stairs. If adding a lift isn’t possible or is too expensive, consider whether it might be possible to relocate certain facilities (such as placing toilets on a ground floor).

Include a disabled toilet

If your premises has a toilet on site, make sure that this is accessible to people with disabilities or consider building a separate toilet. Disability-friendly features could include adding grab bars, adequate space for wheelchair access and easily-accessible flushes and taps. You could even add an emergency cord that people can pull if they are in trouble. Having such a toilet could be essential if you are hiring disabled employees.

Make sure doors are easy to open

Heavy doors may be difficult to open for people with certain disabilities. Consider whether you can make improvements to make doors easier to open. This could include adding automatic doors or push buttons on the side of doors. Alternatively, you could have a separate entrance for people with disabilities.

Make sure corridors are clear enough

Tight corridors that require people to squeeze past or step over objects could be impossible for people with disabilities to negotiate. If it is likely that people with disabilities will need to use these corridors, you should consider clearing enough room for these people to get through. This may not be possible in old buildings with narrow corridors – in these cases, consider whether there is a way of moving vital facilities to more accessible areas or using alternative routes.

Set up easy-to-reach tools for disabled employees

If you are thinking of recruiting an employee with a disability, you may want to consider if any improvements need to be made to your premises. This could include providing desks at a certain height with enough room for wheelchair access. Certain equipment or tools that are currently located on high shelves may need to be placed somewhere lower so that these employees can easily reach these tools. When it comes to hard-to-reach plug sockets, you could even consider adding extension cables with power outlets that can be placed in a more accessible location.

Include disabled parking bays

If your premises has a car park, you could also consider adding priority bays for people with disabilities. This ensures that if the car park is full, any people with a disability are still likely to get a bay so that they don’t have to park elsewhere and travel a huge distance. These bays should be located near the entrance to your premises to limit the amount of distance these people have to walk.

Tips For Re-Opening Your Business After Lockdown

Three of the focuses of my blog are Current Events, Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There’s a lot of talk opening businesses back up but it’s not so simple. Business owners must be very astute about re-opening. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips For Re-Opening Your Business After Lockdown.

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If there is one thing that we can be sure of, is that the pandemic has changed the way that we will all work – perhaps forever. As the world slowly comes out of lockdown, more and more businesses are getting ready to re-open once more, but with re-opening comes the challenge of navigating through an array of health and safety issues to ensure a safe working environment for all.

Here are 4 issues that you will need to address to help you get your business open and back on its feet again.

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Carry out a risk assessment
Before you can even think about re-opening the space for employees and members of the public, you will need to carry out a detailed assessment first to identify potential risk areas. Consult and engage with your employees, and trade unions if they apply to you, and share your results and findings with them. This will allow everyone to have their say and let you know what steps and measures you can take next to make everyone feel safe and reassured enough to happily come back to work.

Deep-clean
Employees and members of the public will, understandably, want assurances that workplaces are clean and safe. Invest in a good quality deep cleaning service to thoroughly disinfect your office, shop or manufacturing floor, and any other space that you and your employees use. Even if no one has been in the building since lockdown officially started, the area has been closed for months without any fresh air, and inevitably, collecting a lot of dust. As you probably didn’t have a chance to disinfect before your business closed, having a thorough deep-clean to ensure that all traces of bacteria and viruses have been destroyed should be your first point of action after the risk assessment. If you can, obtain certification as evidence and provide copies to your colleagues and partners for transparency.

Introduce hygiene procedures
With many still feeling anxious knowing that the virus is still circulating, introducing strict and vigorous hygiene procedures in-house shouldn’t be met with much opposition. Encourage people to follow the official rules regarding hygiene and handwashing and provide hand sanitisers that are easily accessible to everyone. Make them available throughout the entire workspace, with particular focus on high-traffic areas such as entrances and reception areas, as well as bathrooms and kitchens. Keep supplies stocked with various hygienic wipes, sanitisers, paper towels and cleaning equipment and motivate your employees to be proactive and frequently wipe down their own work areas and surfaces.

Maintain social distancing
While there are notable difficulties with social distancing at work, people should still be encouraged to maintain a distance wherever possible. Think about layouts and rearrange floors and work areas to create more space if at all possible, arrange one-way traffic flows through corridors and avoid sharing desks and other workstations at all costs. Where possible, continue to have appointments with visitors and clients via the phone or platforms such as Skype or Zoom and allow workers to keep the option of working from home more often. To further remind workers of social distancing rules and regulations, put up signs in rooms and corridors and mark out areas on floors using removable tape.

Things To Consider When Investing In New Commercial Property

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Investing in residential properties in to the only form of real estate investing. Another aspect is commercial real estate investing which can be very lucrative. The following contributed post is entitled, Things To Consider When Investing In New Commercial Property.

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Whenever you develop the need to seek out new commercial property, whether this be down to relocation or expansion, there’s often a considerable amount of money at stake. The likelihood of losing this money can be reduced by following certain steps to complete your project in the most productive, secure manner, and it’s essential that you can acknowledge these tips and tricks to ensure that you can really make the most of your experience. Luckily it needn’t be difficult to get started, as the information below perfectly summarises the right pathway to follow for the best results. So, if you would like to find out more, then read on to uncover some of the most handy hacks that you can implement today to achieve your commercial property goals with little stress in no time at all!

Image Source – Pexels

Enlist Professional Help

Though you may be under the impression that you (and possibly your team) can complete the project independently, the process will likely be far smoother and faster when you decide to enlist professional help. Each step of your journey can be supported by a specialist, and there are so many reputable companies and individuals ready and waiting to offer superb guidance and assistance. Whether you decide to visit a commercial estate agent to start your search for the ideal property with your best foot forward, or find a trusted real estate lawyer to cover the legal side of things, simply allowing other experienced people to take over will relieve such a huge weight off your shoulders. It’s a good idea to perform a little bit of research on the companies and services which are available to you, remembering to check reviews posted by previous customers for an unbiased opinion on the true quality of what could be provided.

Always Utilise A Surveyor

One of the most important steps that you must follow to reduce the likelihood of considerable money loss is to utilise the services of a top rated surveyor. A property surveyor will assess your potential premises from top to bottom, aiming to identify any kind of current or future faults that could affect the overall price and structural integrity amongst other factors. Failing to enlist a surveyor could mean that you purchase a property riddled with issues that you might not have been able to spot at first glance, and once the papers have been signed it’s too late to go back on your purchase. A surveyor can detail which faults have arisen in their assessments, and recommended the best fixes as well as how much these will cost – you can factor these into your offer if you still want to invest, as this is an extremely reasonable request that will most likely be accepted.

Investing in new business premises can come with a whole host of major risks, but if you take the time to implement the top tips and tricks detailed above then you can guarantee a safer, more secure purchase. Always enlist the help of professionals to support you throughout the process.

How to Choose the Best Supplier for Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Depending upon the type of business that you’re running you may need to think about a supplier and who will perform that function the best for you. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Choose the Best Supplier for Your Business.

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The relationship a business has with its supplier(s) is extremely important for everyone’s success. As a business, the management you have over your suppliers can reduce costs and foster innovation within your company, and beyond.

Having the right supplier on board can also help you to streamline your business, since you know what to expect from them and you don’t have to worry about unnecessary waiting or a lack of communication.

Unfortunately, not every supplier is transparent and communicative, so it’s important to choose the right ones for your business needs. But, how can you make sure you’re choosing the best supplier?

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Make Your Criteria Clear

You can save yourself a lot of time, hassle, and stress by setting out your own personal criteria that your suppliers need to have before you even start looking. By having a concrete list, you can eliminate certain suppliers right away and, again, streamline the process. Some examples of what your criteria might be could include common issues like:

● Minimum/maximum order quantities
● Lead time
● How items are stored and handled
● Frequency of communication
● Payment terms
● Return policies

Having a list like this makes it easy to narrow down your suppliers and gives you the opportunity to ask them all the right questions when you’re trying to decide on someone new. In some cases, you’ll be able to learn a lot about specific suppliers by comparing the information on their website to your criteria. For example, James Duva Inc. offers a lot of straight-forward information right on their website when it comes to alloy industrial products. Look for suppliers who aren’t afraid to tell you what they offer upfront.

Create a Concrete Process

Once you have your criteria in place, you can put together a process that you will use each time you’re looking for a new supplier.

Will you make your list of criteria public to your potential suppliers? Will you call for bids or approach companies directly?

One of the easiest ways to create a process and put it in motion is to delegate experienced members of your team to handle these tasks. Think about the people who could best handle proposals or interview potential suppliers, and either give them the opportunity to make the decision or narrow down the list.

Monitor Supplier Performance

Remember, whether you accept a bid or approach a supplier yourself, you’re not necessarily stuck with them forever. That’s why it’s so important to understand the terms of any contract you sign into with a supplier.

Make it known ahead of time that you will be monitoring progress. As a business, you should have the right to bow out if your supplier isn’t meeting your expectations.

This is, once again, why it’s so important to have a direct line of communication with your supplier. If something goes wrong, you should be able to contact them at any time and get the answers you deserve. The best suppliers won’t have a problem being transparent and committed to fixing any issues as quickly as possible.