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Maintaining good relationships with your vendors helps ensure that you consistently receive the goods and services you need and achieve mutually beneficial goals. But when the buyer-supplier relationship begins to sour for whatever reason, it may be best for your business to cut ties and move on.

Published: Oct 9, 2022 by The Young Entrepreneur Council In Small Business Operations 1

To help you determine whether it’s time to seek out a new vendor partnership, 11 Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members shared their insights on the following question:

“What’s one warning sign that it might be time to cut ties with a particular vendor, and why?”

Here’s what YEC community members had to say.

1. They Won’t Renegotiate Redlined Clauses. Cut Ties

“Sometimes it’s hard to know which side people are on or if they will even change sides. If you redline a harmful clause in your contract and send it back to a vendor, they will react. There’s no problem if the reaction is a compromise. If it’s not, and things escalate, end the relationship. Compromise strengthens aligned relationships and breaks misalignment.” ~ Sean Adler, GZI

2. They Can’t Deliver Within an Expected Timeline

“Our saying is, ‘You are only as strong as your weakest partner.’ If our vendors can’t deliver consistent products or within the timelines our customers expect, we move on quickly. There is always another great vendor out there who wants to work as hard and as thoughtfully as we do.” ~ Michael Barnhill, Specialist ID

3. They Affect the Quality of Business Operations

“A big red flag is when vendors begin to affect the quality of your business operations and offerings. This might look like failure to deliver supplies on time, quality going down or failure to communicate. Of course, mistakes can happen. But if the situation becomes a pattern, it’s a sign to move on before their lack of discipline disrupts your business operations and dampens quality.” ~ Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker