Procurement as a Business Partner
By Andy Beth Miller
Running a business is tough, and not just in regards to the realms of logistics or finances, but emotionally, too. It can be daunting as a business owner to determine what is the best course of action moving forward in order to keep competitive in today’s ever changing marketplace. Nowadays, the bar of success is set quite high, no longer measured by simply being able to stay afloat and reach your bottom line and target profit margins every quarter, but instead, it is measured by keeping up with the Joneses, who are constantly moving forward with each passing day, in leaps and bounds. It is exactly for this reason that the daunting aspect of it all can become overwhelming, paralyzing even, leading some business owners to simply stay stuck in the same old patterns of what they know rather than going out on a limb and changing things up, especially if they are unsure about what even needs to be addressed. In such situations, wouldn’t it be amazing if these business owners and stakeholders could simply find a business partner that would come alongside them and magically take the reins in regards to finding solutions and developing simple steps to pave the way to greater success, and even better, success that is sustainable over the long-term? I think we could all agree that the answer to this question is a resounding yes, but then we have to ask, do such proverbial unicorns even exist? Surprisingly, again, the answer is yes, and I actually had the pleasure of sitting down with an expert this week, who not only made me believe that such a magical business partnership really is possible, but explained that it does not arrive in the package that one might first imagine… Jonathan Townsley, a successful expert in the procurement field, sat down with us to give us priceless insight on how procurement can actually be a business partner of sorts, coming alongside business owners to help us reach our goals and improve our business from a holistic approach, thus improving all aspects of our company. In fact, Townsley is adamant when it comes to how vital it is to realize that procurement is not simply about placing an order or buying something. Instead, he says that it’s really about “enabling business transformation and business improvement.”
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Here is where seeing procurement as a proverbial business partner comes into play. Townsley provides some key areas where procurement can work for you in order to do just this, propelling your company forward and creating an easy flow toward better efficiency and greater success. If you ask Townsley, he will tell you that he could have very easily have gone down a different career path. “I always tell people, ‘I think I missed my calling. I should have been a teacher,’” he explains. He speaks in jest, but the more we converse, the more I come to understand that Townsley, in his procurement role, actually is a teacher of sorts, as education is one of the fundamental key elements in what he does for his clients on a daily basis. In fact, according to him, it’s where all of the magic happens, “It really is quite a bit of education, taking people through the journey, and letting them understand what is possible.” Also according to Townsley, part of that education fleshes itself out in the modality of mentorship. He brings this illustration home by pointing to a collaboration from his past, during a time when he had engaged in work with Best Buy, where he dealt with Store Operations and had constant contact with colleagues, and more importantly, customers. “Best Buy had a tagline, ‘Let’s talk about what is possible,’ and that really resonated with me because that is the way that procurement works today. You talk with people, you listen to what is troubling them and what are their challenges and opportunities, and then you figure out what is possible together,” he explains. And, it is really that sense of togetherness in tackling any obstacle that is the crux of developing a successful business partnership with procurement.
