It is safe to assume that virtually all businesses require goods or services from third-party vendors. Nevertheless, it is rather a neglected issue. In terms of internal and external management of those vendors, many attempts have left a real approach in the air. The existing software and hardware that allows for more effective management of those external vendors are shy in flexibility and adaptability. Essentially the most current issue with the existing tools is their affordability for small businesses as well as the respective calculation of return on investment.ࠅven without the financial aspects, most small and mid-size businesses lack the internal expertise to deploy such technically demanding projects. As in most other aspects of comparison between small and large businesses, the small business owners are rather disadvantaged in this particular sector as well. Yet the solution to third-party vendor management is rather simple for small businesses. The basic B2B relationship stays virtually the same, whereby the only significant difference between small businesses and large businesses in terms of their respective relationship is leverage. The most obvious step to maintaining a relationship between small businesses and their respective vendors is consistency. By maintaining consistency in terms of trust, projects, and orders, one can virtually eliminate the leverage factor. However, the question of maintaining such a relationship effectively and efficiently is directly connected to issues such as cost-benefit analysis, time and cost factors, as well as reliability and dependency issues. Traditionally, the maintenance of such relationships can be managed internally. However, considering the current economy, globalization, as well as technical development, may increase the attractiveness of outsourcing to third-party firms or management consulting firms. In the coming days and weeks, we will discuss the benefits and potential disadvantages of outsourcing vs. in-house dealings. Brought to you by: World Consulting Group נYour premiermanagement consulting firm. The postVendor and customer relations first appeared onWorld Consulting Group.