Choosing the Right SuppliersChoosing a supplier should be a process that you are patient throughout. After all, did you choose your best friend overnight? Probably not. Since you want to establish a long-term relationship with a good supplier, it’s important that you take the proper amount of time to really get to know them. Here are a few questions you should ask every supplier you think you might work with.

Do You Guarantee Refunds?

Knowing your supplier’s return policy is extremely important. You may not anticipate it now, but someday you might have a product that flops before production is finished. You definitely don’t want to be stuck with a ton of raw materials and half-finished pieces, so it’s important you know just exactly how you go about returning something that didn’t work out for you.

Do You Have a Timely Arrival Policy?

Does your company get any money back if something doesn’t arrive on time? Do you get paid for the goods that didn’t get used because you had to source them somewhere else? It’s important to ask and have their policy in writing. That way if you need to reference it for any reason, you have it on hand.

What’s the Average Gross Margin?

This is important because it tells you how much a supplier is planning on taking out of your pocket for their benefit. Your supplier deserves to get paid of course, but so do you. You need to know how much you’re going to get after everything is said and done, and if there is a guaranteed gross margin that you can depend on if something goes wrong in the production process.