The best representative of your company is your purchasing agent. Such an agent is duly responsible for managing transactions with vendors and suppliers who are engaged with your company for providing business-related goods and services. Many small businesses, there in the market, do not have the budget to hire a purchasing agent as an employee. In such cases, an independent purchasing agent can be the best option for you and your company. This means that a purchasing or procurement agent can run every process in a company being a free bird. Their employment with a company then simply becomes contractual i.e., once the contract ends, they can switch to some other company and work accordingly. Even for hiring an independent purchasing agent, you need to know their roles and responsibilities.
A procurement or purchasing agent possesses a lot of responsibilities but it is more important to know the major ones – Evaluating both current and potential suppliers and vendors; Analysing data to ensure vendors’ prices are reasonable and affordable; and Negotiating agreements with vendors and eventually monitoring ongoing contracts. Such an agent is highly responsible for keeping an eye on the overall industry activities for keeping their purchasing knowledge up-to-date.
Benefits of Having a Procurement/Purchasing Agent
Read Below To Know In Detail About The Benefits Of Having A Purchasing Agent Onboard:
Negotiation of Deals
The deals your purchasing agent cracks and executes with vendors can directly impact the bottom line of your business. Since such an agent is your company’s representative, vendors will get to know your company’s potential through them. Therefore, obtaining the best and most reasonable price on goods or services is very important for a small business. Higher prices may cause trouble to your company’s profits you make from sales. A procurement agent knows how to present themselves in front of vendors and how to communicate for setting deals with proper negotiation.
Management of Vendor Relationships
It is known that a purchasing agent wisely and smoothly manages the relationship between your company and its vendors. Due to this, they are eligible for acting as your representative in any transactions related to your company and its vendors. This is mainly done by them to ensure that you receive goods and services reliably, consistently and smoothly for meeting your profit-related goals. Relationship in a procurement business is the most important thing people always look for.
Purchasing Knowledge
The pulse of your business generally remains within the finger of your purchasing agent, especially when the talk is about required supplies and inventory. Owners of businesses generally do not have much time to be on top of issues such as price and reliability because they also have to face other important tasks on board. This space is always covered or fulfilled by a purchasing agent ideally.
Management of Inventory Crisis
A top-rated and ideal purchasing agent always nurtures the relationship between your company and its vendors. In certain cases, rather during unexpected events, your agent may leverage the relationship for generating the required outcome, being very important. Managing inventory crisis is very essential for an agent. He then can perform the necessary tasks for obtaining expedited delivery of goods and services whenever your company undergoes urgent need of such items.
Disadvantages of Having a Procurement Agent
Read below to know in detail about the disadvantages of having a procurement or purchasing agent onboard:
Finding the Right Purchasing Agent
You will have to research a lot for finding the right purchasing agent for your business. This is typically very time-consuming. You will always want someone who can work on your company’s behalf both very efficiently and competently. At the same time, you would also want your agent to cost less with goods and services that would then be beneficial for your company. Do not be hurry while making a decision. Otherwise, you will encounter headaches later on with your agent’s performance.
Costs
It does not matter whether you hire a purchasing agent on a contract or a permanent basis. You will always have to pay your agent the sum he/she needs. But this is a problem with small businesses. Such businesses usually have an inconsistent flow of cash that eventually stops them from having a purchasing agent onboard. While if a small business is having consistent and rapid growth, its cash flow will be more regular and stable. At that time, such a company can hire such an agent.
Protecting Trade Secrets
Your company’s confidential information will usually be shared with your purchasing agent. Therefore, you will need a very reliable agent. Confidential information inside your company usually is very complicated and deeply related to your business trades, motives and profits. In other words, your purchasing or procurement agent need to protect all your trade secrets.
The disadvantages simply state that if your company is stable with cash flow and if you can find the right and trustworthy agent, then your business will always see a rise in profits. Though there are problems in every business, you might face the same with your agent but make sure that it does not lead your company to face disasters. Find the right procurement or purchasing agent for your business and enjoy the benefits mentioned above.
