Welcome to help4businesses.co.uk
Business owners today are faced on a daily basis with business decisions and choices that will affect their business for years to come. At www.help4businesses.co.uk we aim to be a place where business owners and business managers can come to get advice and information on solving your business decisions and making the most out of your successful business. We can provide business owners with a list of recommended business providers that can provide your business with services you'll need to run a profitable and successful business.
Business providers can be the lifeblood of your business – after all, without them, your business wouldn't have equipment, services, or possibly even goods to sell to your business's clients. Your business would grind to a halt. But choosing a business supplier can be a difficult decision and it's important to take lots of factors into account when dealing with business suppliers. What should one look for when choosing a business supplier? Many business owners make the mistake of picking a business supplier based solely on cost alone. It's an easy trap for a business manager to fall into. After all the lower your business costs, the higher your company's profits should be, right? Not necessarily. You will certainly want to look for low prices to drive your own costs down, but remember that your own business's clients are looking to you for reliability, and without reliable business suppliers, your own business will risk becoming less reliable and therefore less competitive. The same goes for quality. If your business providers are supplying you with products and services that are less than satisfactory (or less than top notch!), the quality of your own business's service will be compromised, and your own customers will suffer. So when you choose a business supplier, make sure that you factor in quality and reliability of supply.
You may want to choose your business suppliers based on more than just reliability, cost and recommendations – these days, a lot of business owners, and a lot of customers too, like to give their business to businesses who have an ethically responsible policy and practice. This means that it's not just about the business owner behaving in a way which is coherent with their own values and moral beliefs, it can be a wise and profitable business decision too. After all, no one would specifically avoid using a company which sources their products ethically, but someone might choose that company over another which doesn't, specifically because they are concerned about where their products are coming from and would prefer to choose a business which matches their concerns. Sourcing ethically can be a USP for a business and is a strong marketing and selling point – often brilliant for PR. An ethical business model won't only attract ethically conscious customers, it may also provide an excellent hook for attracting investors, and helps you to build customers' and investors' trust in your brand. Ethical working can also motivate staff, who are more likely to feel committed to and trusting in an employer who is transparent about its working practices.
When you source ethically as a business, that means that you ensure that during the manufacture of your products and the sourcing of their raw materials, decent labour standards are adhered to not only by you but by every business involved in the chain. Fair wages must be paid to everyone involved at any stage, working conditions must be safe and hygienic, workers must be of decent working age (usually 16 and over), and not subject to discrimination or unreasonable working hours. You may find that an ethical business model costs more to run than a similar business which does not follow a code of ethical working, both in financial terms and in time investment. However, consumers will often gladly pay a premium for good that they know have been produced ethically.
It's great to support small businesses – after all, it's likely that you're a small business too! But if you're looking for a reliable supplier of quality goods for your business it may be worth thinking about choosing a larger business supplier over a smaller one. Larger business providers are likely to have been in business for a longer time, and there's a reason for that – they will have built a solid reputation based on on quality and performance. What's more, larger suppliers can often be more reliable than smaller businesses as they are more likely to have resources to spend on backup if they need to, and more likely to have a wider reach and supply chain, so if one supplier goes down or is unavailable for some reason, they are more likely to be able to continue to supply you with a reliable service. No matter whether you choose a small business or a larger business to supply you with goods and service, it's worth asking for a credit check.
There are a myriad of ways to find business suppliers. Of course, we on www.help4businesses.co.uk can
give you lots of help as we have a list of recommended business suppliers
who can help you with things like technology including business
mobile phones, sat navs and PDA devices. We can also recommend transport
solutions such as executive car hire and lorry hire, and a great supplier
of spare auto parts. We
can sort out your storage issues with suppliers of steel
storage containers for purchase or rent.
However, there are other ways to find people and businesses to supply your
company. Spend time researching the different business suppliers available
to you, and don't underestimate the power of networking – ask other
businesses for advice on what suppliers they would recommend, of if they
have contacts who are very happy with their suppliers and who would be
happy to advise you too. There's always the good old classic directories
such as the Yellow Pages and Thompson's, but don't forget their online
equivalents too. Plus lots of user recommendations (and warnings) can be
found, straight from the horse's mouth, on consumer review sites like Yelp,
Qype, Ciao and so on. If your business has a trade association, try asking
them for tips and hints, and visit trade fairs too – brilliant for
marketing, networking and picking up good ideas. You should also make a
habit of reading trade magazines, which are often full of great ideas as
well as advertisements from potential suppliers – whose credentials
you can then check out in alternative publications or with your business
peers. And finally, don't stick with just one supplier. Even if you're
very happy with your business supplier, always have an alternative to turn
to if necessary. You never know what's going to happen. While it may be
tempting to think of holding another supplier in reserve as disloyal, try
to dispel this thought. A business relationship is not the same as a friendship,
and should only continue as long as it's mutually beneficial to both parties.
As laid out at the beginning of this article, you rely on your suppliers
to keep your own business running, so be prepared to move with the times
if your regular supplier's standards start to slip. Quality can diminish
gradually, so make sure you review your suppliers' performance regularly
to see if you are still happy to use them – if you find any problems
with your business supplier's service, it may be worth contacting them
to see if they are aware of the change in service and to negotiate an improvement
in service. Remember, to them, you are the customer, and the customer is
always right! If you are not able to negotiate an improved service from
your business supplier or the quality of their service continues to fall
to a level with which you are not happy, you may wish to change supplier,
perhaps to the backup supplier you've held as part of your contingency
plan, or perhaps to another one. If your contingency plan has been in place
for a long time, it is always worth researching to see if they are still
the best alternative option for you and your business. Changing supplier
can be a tricky manoeuvre, so you may need to manage it carefully. When
you begin a business relationship with a supplier, an exit clause in contracts
will help you to switch between suppliers more easily and with less disruption
to either business.
Business owners face daily decisions about finding and choosing suppliers. Our aim is to provide you with information about some selected suppliers and give you some help with the process of choosing suppliers for your business.