55 | The One With Turning Suppliers Into Strategic Partners

Treating suppliers as transactional vendors instead of long-term partners puts you at the back of their priority list — exactly when you can't afford to be there.Most early-stage founders manage supplier relationships purely transactionally — PO in, product out. In this episode, Lara makes the case that supplier partnership is one of the highest-leverage and lowest-cost investments an early brand can make, and breaks down exactly how to build those relationships from day one — even when you're small. For pre-revenue to $500K founders who want to be a priority client before they've earned it through volume.Key Takeaways:• Suppliers prioritize clients who treat them like partners, not purchase orders• Relationship capital translates into better pricing, preferential capacity, and early intelligence• Simple, consistent relational behaviors cost almost nothing and compound over timeIf this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.Connect with Lara & Move Supply ChainWant to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?Follow & Subscribe:⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠⁠X – Move⁠⁠X – Lara⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠YouTube⁠Get more insights:⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chainSC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders