时不时地,你可能需要提高价格your business to keep up with production or offset business expense increases. But what if you’re hit with a price increase? What do you do?

Whether it’s a supplier, service provider, or another vendor you work with, a price increase can be crippling in business. Not to mention, it may force you to raise prices in your business, causing a vicious cycle.

Fortunately, you don’t have to take price hikes lying down. Despite supply chain issues, you do have options, and we’re here to go over what they are.

6 Steps to take if you’re hit with a price increase

如果您认为您的业务到业务（B2B）供应商将不久，即将或将来的某个时候再次向您收取更多费用。最大的指示？消费者价格正在增加，因为企业本身正在看到原材料价格上涨。

Here’s the rundownof consumer price increases in the 52-week period leading up to April 10, 2021:

• 一般商品：7.1％
• Baby care: 7.0%
• Household care: 5.2%
• Grocery: 2.6%

在某些时候，您的业务也可能获得供应商或供应商的通知。如果你这样做，避免恐慌或沮丧。相反，遵循这六个步骤。

1.尽可能多地收集信息

首先获取更多信息why您的供应商或供应商正在提高价格。你有额外的服务吗？更多价值？他们是否试图跟上供应链问题或低库存？

Like any business, your vendor or supplier might issue a price hike to:

• 雇用更多员工
• Add value
• 跟上行业趋势
• 策划战略变革
• Deal with increased business costs

If a vendor is hitting you with a price increase because the cost of the materials is increasing, do some research. You might ask for a cost breakdown to help you determine if the hike is fair or not.

Some other information you should gather (if the vendor skimped out on details when notifying you) is:

• Whether the price increase is temporary or permanent
• When the raise takes effect
• Whether it’ll impact any existing orders you have

2. Assess how it’ll affect you

在获取价格上涨的所有信息后，将如何影响您的方式。这样，你知道它是否会影响你的商业底线如果你能负担得起。

Put together your:

• Current monthly total with existing pricing
• Annual total with existing pricing
• Monthly total with the new pricing
• Annual total with new pricing

If you realize there’s a significant difference in your long-term costs, you can use this information for a price negotiation with the vendor or start researching alternative products or services that better fit your expectations.

3. Try to negotiate

Pricescan可以谈判。在跳跃之前，结论价格上涨是您必须支付的价格，与您的供应商或供应商交谈。在某些情况下，您可能能够协商价格或您的付款条款。

如果您与供应商的长期关系，他们可能愿意与您合作以保持您的业务。他们可能无法向您收取您始终支付的相同价格，但他们可能会在中间见到您。

So, do you know how to negotiate with vendors and suppliers? Here are some questions you might ask:

• 与你一起做生意X年，我可以至少临时祖父吗？
• Can you provide a discount on the new price?
• 是否有替代产品或服务，您可以提供贵重的价格？
• 您是否愿意为其他产品或服务提供折扣？
• What other value are you able to offset the costs of this price hike (e.g., free shipping)?

谈判时，尽管紧张局势可能很高，但尽量不要被加热。保持谈话尊重和基于事实，以突出与供应商或供应商的强大工作关系。

4. Consider your alternatives

If the negotiations don’t pan out (or if you decide to skip them), it might be time to start shopping around.

在考虑你的替代品，Gergo Vari，CEO晶状物提供以下建议：

Find alternative vendors and obtain quotes from them on similar products or services, then compare your current supplier’s revised cost to the different bids. If a better deal can be found elsewhere, and your current vendors won’t price-match, be willing to switch suppliers.”

When considering alternative vendors, pay attention to:

• 您的预算
• 您的业​​务需求
• What prospective vendors offer
• Whether you are able to lock in prices

根据价格上涨的产品或服务，您最好的替代方案可能是整个删除。没有它就可以做生意。例如，您可能能够摆脱某些订阅，会员资格或不必要的办公用品。

5. Increase your prices or absorb the cost

找不到更好的价格吗？没有能够尽可能低廉的交易？在这种情况下，您的下一步是决定您是否要提高业务价格（AKA收取客户更多）或吸收成本。

如果您选择更多地收取客户，请记住，您可以丢失其中一些。您的客户可能会因价格而不高兴，并且尝试与您洽谈或洽谈替代品。

另一方面，如果您吸收成本，您可以减少您的利润和结束业务增长。

为了帮助您为您的业务做出最佳决定，您应该：

• 权衡价格提高价格的利弊和吸收成本
• Do research on industry trends, competitor prices, and your target market

If you decide to raise your prices, be upfront with your customers when you explain the changes. And, consider whether you can add something of value.

6.调整预算

无论发生什么，你的下一步是调整你的small business budget。如果您决定留在供应商，将价格增加到您的预算中。如果您选择另一个供应商或整个削减费用，请更新您的预计费用。

您还需要调整预算，以解释您是否增加业务价格或吸收成本。最后但并非最不重要的是，请记住诠释更改，以便您可以向投资者或贷方解释预算变更，如适用。

这并非旨在作为法律建议;有关更多信息，请click here.