Saving money is easier than you think-just bully your supplier and you will get a discount once, maybe twice. Then that wonderful rule of life will apply: what goes around comes around. You soon find out that, just as you need to make a profit, so too does your supplier. When you both make money, though, everyone keeps coming back for more. Here are a few tips. One of the best ways to control or cut costs is to manage your incoming glass efficiently. Even if your vendor is paying the freight, you are still covering this somewhere in the costs paid. Obviously, receiving five deliveries each week costs more than three deliveries. Delivery charges aside, each one also means extra paperwork and invoices from the vendor and extra interruptions of your day to check received goods and sign delivery receipts. To simplify the delivery process, why not create a delivery schedule? Ask some vendors to deliver on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, some in the mornings and some in the afternoons. Have others deliver on Tuesday and Thursday. With a pattern like this, you will know when you need to have someone in the shop. If your vendor charges a delivery fee, try and negotiate it based on volume and ease of delivery. Most companies have different charge levels. You may not get to zero, but try to go down one level in cost. Also, don't ever pay delivery charges on back-orders or breakage replacements.
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