Things to Consider While Looking For a Franchise Supplier In a franchise business, vendors play an essential role in building an organization.

An organization is a team effort, where every player's participation adds value and strength in running it successfully.

Franchising as an organization needs all of its players' participation equally. Franchisees and franchisors need all kinds of supplies, products as well as services, in order to keep the business on its velocity.

Thus vendors play a major role in the franchising brand's success; but with growing demand and supply race, it becomes necessary to find the right vendors, for an assuring success.

Manika Pahwa, Owner, Woodbox Café shares "Every organization needs the best supplier which can boost their sales by improving the quality of products and services. We at Woodbox Café are very selective about our suppliers, as we don't believe in compromising with the quality."

Do the homework

Franchisees and franchisors need to research about the potential vendors in the locality while keeping all the business requirements in mind.

Once you select a couple of suppliers, who fit into your requirements, do a background search of their previous record such as timely delivery, behavior towards other businessmen, drinking habits and previous police cases, if any.

References

Franchisees and franchisors, especially new ones should consider talking to other franchisees and business owners, who work in the same locality.

This will give you the idea of the vendor's reputation and sincerity towards his job, as well as the charges. Some might charge less but have a poor reputation, whereas some might charge more but are overcrowded with businesses. You need to find the one, who sits perfectly in your budget and get the work done in time.

Discussions

After the search for a vendor is complete, the next step should be scheduling a meeting with the company's representative.

Discuss the details like credit terms, policies, pricing, billing, etc, leaving no stone unturned. Staying up-front and well informed will always work in your favor.

Shift the gear

After being convinced about the vendor's service and offering, franchisors should provide the financial report and all the related documents to the vendor.

Also speak to the vendor in personal level to know his expectations, which will bring clarity in your relationship with him/her.

This article was originally published on Franchise India by Shahram Warsi.