Six Criteria to Help You Pick the Right Supplier

A brand’s identity and value is closely tied to the suppliers behind it. The right supplier can help ensure consistency in your products and stability in your business, while the wrong one can place your brand’s trust and reliability at risk in the eyes of your customers.

Because of the importance of suppliers to your brand, it is well worth the time and effort to evaluate your suppliers thoroughly, not only in the beginning but on a regular basis as you grow your brand. Here are six factors to consider when deciding which suppliers are the best fit for your brand.

1) Production quality / Attention to Detail

Every supplier will promise that they can make the item you desire. However, it’s your job to determine which supplier can deliver on their promise. You always want to get a comparison of the samples between all the factories before you decide to move forward. Notice which one has the highest attention to detail and the most attractive packaging.

2) Flexibility

Can they work with you on making changes to the production item? How quickly can they get it done? Are they able to take a lower minimum order quantity (MOQ)? These are all questions to be asked.

3) Pricing

Make sure to understand the total cost of the product (including shipping and logistics) as well as how that cost will come down as your business scales. You want to be able to generate healthy profit margins so that you can earn a good income and invest in the growth of your brand.

4) Communication

Are the suppliers easy to work with? Are they transparent in their communication? Do they respond to your questions and requests in a timely fashion? Do they understand the details you want for the project? Do they have representatives that can speak your language?

5) Capacity

What is the maximum quantity of your product that the supplier can deliver within a given time frame? You don’t want to be stuck in a situation where you grow too rapidly, and the factory can’t meet your demands. Switching the mid-production cycle will delay your entire supply chain system.

6) Lead time

How long will it take for the supplier to produce your product and ship it to you? Suppliers that can deliver your products quickly can give you a significant advantage as they allow you to carry a lower amount of inventory and react more quickly to rapid changes in customer demand (e.g. during mega campaigns).

Before finalizing...

Before finalizing your choice of supplier, always request an outside inspection company to come and inspect your goods before the final payment. You want to catch any mistakes the suppliers had on the production run before it gets to the hands of the customers. Having a consistent standard of quality is integral to building your brand’s identity and value.

Picking the right supplier can not only provide stability and protect your brand’s reputation, but it can also give you back more time to focus on the other facets of your business. Picking the wrong supplier can result in many problems, including high customer returns, long production times, delays and other unnecessary headaches.