The success or failure of countless businesses has relied on the relationships that have been cultivated with suppliers and customers. Knowing how a business has dealt with its suppliers and customers in the past helps to paint a picture of how the current owner does business, and what relationships lie in store for a potential new owner. Poor business relations can have a decided negative impact on business performance. Knowing how the previous owner interacted with business contacts is a helpful compass in learning how to treat new contacts.
Learning who the suppliers are for a prospective business can serve as an interesting glance into the workings of a company. Knowing everything from what company provides the supplies and products for a potential business to where they are located to what they have to say about the prospective business provides valuable insider information. Suppliers have a very good idea of how the businesses of their customers run and what problems these companies may have.
Likewise, talking to the current customers of a business can help you get an impression of how the business is run and what will be expected of a potential future owner, as well as quite a bit of intangible information that written reports and financial documents will not make clear.
Suppliers and Customers make the base of the triangle upon which your business will stand. Outside of employees, they are the most knowledgeable parties about a prospective purchase, and talking to them will almost always help you to gain an understanding of areas that could use improvement. Knowing the information that can be provided by suppliers and customer will be invaluable to understanding how a business truly works. Becoming involved with these issues early on will help tune a prospective owner in to the needs of a new business.
