As a corporate, your supply chain matters.
You want to sure you have the best suppliers providing you with the best products and services at the best prices and service levels.
Your tendering process isn’t the greatest (whose is?) making it tricky for smaller suppliers to get a look in.
And that means you could be missing out.
Diversifying your supply chain to include more SMEs, one man/woman bands, and minority businesses (women-owned, ethnic, etc.) will enrich your business.
How?
Well for a start smaller businesses can move quickly, offering flexibility and responsiveness the big boys can’t compete with.
Take my business as an example.
I add diversity to your supply chain because I am a woman-owned business.
Providing copywriting and copyediting services, I work as part of your team delivering fresh, relevant and compelling content for all your marketing and communication needs.
Working alone, I take the brief, do the research and create the copy for every project, delivering a level of continuity larger businesses can’t compete with.
Plus, I can be flexible to fit in with your needs, never pass your work on to a junior (because I don’t have one), and am always on hand to bounce ideas off.
Help your suppliers help you
One of the major issues businesses like mine face is getting in touch with the right people.
Procurement is the usual way into a corporate, but the level of spend is far higher than the value of the projects I get involved with, making it tricky.
By being more transparent and opening up your doors to potential new suppliers, you could reduce costs, unearth incredible talent and find innovation that you never knew existed.
It’s important to remember that big isn’t always best.
Granted, larger companies may be cheaper, but they are unlikely to be able to offer the same level of expertise, responsiveness and agility your organisation demands.
Isn’t it time you looked beyond your usual suppliers and found smaller businesses who could make a difference to your organisation?