So you want to open a new restaurant or a coffee shop or a food service establishment. One of the things you need to think about and give priority is about is to obtain the best supplier of goods and products for a restaurant. They are important for you to be able to prepare and serve food to your customers. Finding a good supplier can be difficult as you need to work with them to make sure they are dependable enough to deliver the supplies efficiently. However, you can protect yourself from shady practices from your soon-to-be suppliers by creating a contract to let each of you know what tasks and responsibilities are expected from each other. This article will guide you on how to find a good food supplier and how to make a contract for them. Keep reading the article below.
To know a thing or two about food suppliers, you need to make some research about them. You can ask about local suppliers from your references or the internet. Know a little bit of their background, especially who their clients are. This will help narrow your search for suppliers.
The first thing to do when looking for suppliers is to obtain all the price lists of the supplies they offer and then calculate how much each product costs from each supplier individually. Compare the prices and check which is much more affordable to your budget. You also need to identify all the important staff of each supplier and ask them more questions about their pricing method and how payments are made. You can also inquire regarding bulk discounts as well. Know which supplier is much more suited not only to your budget, but also who is willing to strike good deals with you.
Another thing to consider when looking for suppliers is to know how efficient they are when they deliver the supplies to you. Will they be able to ship all complete supplies at an appropriate time? Will delays be happening frequently? Will the supplies they ship be substandard or are they just not the best quality at all? Will they be able to deliver the right supplies? All of these concerns can stop you from pursuing the supplier to sign a contract with them. Have a background check by interviewing the supplier’s clients and asking them about their experiences with them. You can also ask the supplier what types of vehicles they use for deliveries and the number of restaurants they’ve supplied. Ask them for their set delivery schedule. When making the contract, be explicit in informing the supplier that the set delivery time should be followed.
Of course, suppliers will also need to deliver back the items or products that are used by you and then replace them. Ask them about their arrangement with this practice. If they are not coherent in giving you an explanation on how they do the transportation for returning supplies, you may need to clarify it a little bit further by prodding them with more questions. You must ensure that they are always efficient in picking up the returned package and then send you a new one.
Once you’ve established that you can trust the supplier to be doing business transactions with them, it’s time to create the contract. A contract may vary from person to person, but the following details below should be present in the contract that you will make:
The different types of contracts that restaurants will deal with are leases, employment agreements, supplier agreements, and contractor agreements.
For suppliers to obtain clients, they can do the following activities:
When you negotiate with a supplier, be open-minded about making compromises but be sure to be smart about them. Think of what you can accept or reject. Remember to not only focus on making income but also retain the quality of the service and ensure that your suppliers are trustworthy enough to efficiently provide you with the supplies you need for your food business. Also, initiate the discussion of the contract by asking the supplier what points they want to discuss before you both sign the contract. It’s also important that both sides should be happy with the terms of the contract. Ensure that no one is pressured to agree on something that they’re not happy with as this will present problems later. Each time you have to agree to any terms, clarify that you have understood them both correctly and write them down. To help you get started making the contract, download our free sample templates above to use as your guide!
