After Bai Dao Gong's key technology seeks entrepreneurial advantages from vital techniques, even if one cannot surpass and bear it, one should not fall behind. Today, we will discuss the second stage of comprehensive marketing - procurement capital flow.
In the 90s, business was simple: money turned into goods easily, but turning goods back into money required skill. Procurement is the process of turning money into goods. Is it really as simple as they say?
Today, with the development of market marketing into comprehensive marketing, procurement has become a crucial link in marketing. If you don't have a good supply source with an excellent cost-performance ratio, your quality will be unstable—how can your product stabilize? If delivery times are irregular—how do you ensure normal production and sales? High procurement costs directly affect final costs. So, as an entrepreneur, what do you use to compete with others?
Therefore, the position of procurement is no longer just that of a simple purchaser or contract manager—it has been elevated to a subject requiring deep study by the enterprise. As an entrepreneur, you need to pay more attention to resources in this area. In fact, we see that many entrepreneurs precisely because they possess such resources, were inspired to start their own businesses.
Evaluating procurement resources is the beginning of finding resource advantages. When discussing key technologies, we mentioned understanding the industry, and procurement must also understand the industry. Even if it's not the best, it must be optimized; otherwise, you'll lose right from the start. If your procurement source is indeed leading in the industry and can maintain a long-term good cooperative relationship, then procurement itself can become a core competitive advantage. In the companies I've worked for, the philosophy of co-development with suppliers has always been emphasized.
However, many entrepreneurs only conduct simple evaluations, intuitively believing they have supplier friends or have conducted market research comparisons. It’s only when they start their business that they repeatedly ask why the neighboring store can sell cheaper and better products than theirs. A friend once gave an example where someone only thought about getting discounted clothing after starting their business. This is a very unrealistic idea. On forums, I often see people talking about wholesale prices, retail prices, small profit margins, etc. These are all surface-level issues that outsiders with little experience must understand clearly.
During the buyer's market phase, procurement resources are very abundant. How do you find your own procurement advantage?
There are a few points. First is sourcing supplies, but even from the closest person, you must evaluate their product advantages and stability. Secondly, deeply investigate the comparative advantages of all possible supply sources. Remember, if he possesses it, he has his own value, so the key at that time is compatibility. Thirdly, optimize the logistics combination—this is where entrepreneurs can fully leverage their abilities. I must remind retailers that procurement should use a market-oriented perspective rather than personal preferences.
Procurement is a vast subject, and to explain it thoroughly would take more than one or two articles, so we'll leave it here for now. In short, there is much space within this field, with low professional barriers, and entrepreneurs might as well invest more effort to find their relative or absolute advantages here.
Relevant theme articles:
- Jiangsu Jurong: College students can borrow up to 1 million yuan for entrepreneurship
- QQ group disappearance tracking: Group members suggest regulations be introduced
- Hangzhou aims to develop 14 service industries