What do you do if you want to secure the best prices from vendors as an entrepreneur?

Score best vendor prices: research, get quotes, negotiate! Bulk discounts, early payments, and long-term value can be your weapons. Be clear, highlight your worth, and walk if needed. It's a win-win, not war!

When preparing your negotiation it is crucial to research thoroughly about the market dynamics. You also need to #prepare some information you would like to give or get. For example, you might want to know under what circumstances the vendor would be ready to concede the price you are looking for or you might decide to share competition prices you have received (if they are closer to your expectations).

La compra es una actividad clave pero muy poco valorada en las empresas. La rentabilidad de una compa?ía comienza desde el momento de la compra. Si bien es cierto que a todos nos gustaría ahorrar en "costos", también debemos comprender que la calidad de los insumos impactan en nuestro producto final. Conoce el valor de tus proveedores, ya que de ellos depende, en gran medida, la calidad del producto o servicio que ofreces y, en consecuencia, tu reputación en el mercado.

Be curious about your vendor interests, motivations. This will help you understand his dynamics and create a positive rapport. Putting yourself into his shoes will surely help when making proposals that would result in win win situations. Share your interests and motives as well so that he knows what matters for you. This will be useful to build long term rapport. Curiosity and Empathy are skills that help to conduct a good negotiation

No subestimes a los proveedores o a los potenciales proveedores. El establecer una buena relación con ellos va más allá de tener una relación cordial. Aquí algunos consejos: *Siempre dales la oportunidad de presentarte nuevas propuestas. *Respeta su tiempo y su trabajo. Procura responder a sus ofertas sea cual sea la decisión de compra. *Si te envían alguna muestra.... realiza las pruebas. Recuerda que los proveedores invierten tiempo y dinero en darte un servicio.

Before commiting to big volumes, you can check if the vendor is flexible on pricing. For example, without commiting, you could simply ask how much volume should you order to get a 25% discount on pricing. Watch out for the responses and signals. If it is a formal 'impossible to get a 25% discount', then review your objectives to a more realistic level. If there is a number put on the table, you could then start negotiation about volumes (note that volumes can be split over time, e.g. it can be XXX units over the next 5 years). No need to commit to all the volumes in one go

In order to propose valuable trade offs, it is important to understand what elements matter for the vendor (volume, terms of payment, delivery terms, exclusivity etc). Your trade off should be valuable enough for the vendor to be motivated to concede on pricing. Indeed, looking beyond the simple pricing element helps in creating value and we need to be creative with all the elements so that we can work towards a win win situation

It's easy for a new entrepreneur to be enticed to do a one-off deal by a prospective customer or buyer at exceptionally low margins or even loss-making to facilitate putting your brand or organisation on the map. Be strategic, weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of doing any deal (the financial and non-financial factors), and don't be afraid to walk away respectfully if the deal doesn't give you the optimum projected result.