Supplier Radar checklist
Turn Pinetown supplier headaches into an organised shortlist you can trust, without drowning in WhatsApp forwards or side-tracked by month-end.
| Focus | Suppliers |
|---|---|
| Format | Scorecard |
| Quotes | Cue list |
| Region | SA local |
| Supplier hub | Observatory |
Email magic@ for a tailored pack.
Also see supplier notes and projects.
Supplier Radar steps for busy owners
Start with the shortlist scorecard on page one of the kit. Keep a pen handy, or print two copies if your ops manager needs their own set. Each step below is local-tested from George to Pinetown, none of them needs more than half an hour in a busy week. Use these as your Monday-or-Friday routine or slot into your usual ops catchup every third Thursday.
- Print the Supplier Radar scorecard from your kit and write your business name and today's date at the top.
- List four to six supplier categories you actually use (e.g. cleaning, PPE, stationery) on the left edge of the scorecard.
- For each category, jot down up to three suppliers you’ve used in the last year, even if they weren't reliable.
- Pull out any saved tax invoices or delivery notes from those suppliers, last quarter's are fine.
- For each supplier, check if they’ve got an up-to-date B-BBEE affidavit, CIPC registration, and VAT number (if relevant). Tick the boxes.
- Copy the quote request cue list from your kit onto a fresh page, then email it to each supplier, no WhatsApp (unless their manager genuinely can’t email).
- Log replies on the scorecard: price, response time, and willingness to FICA you if needed. Give each a score out of five.
- Mark suppliers who fail to reply within three working days with a big X, no points for radio silence.
- Use the Local finder notes to call or email two new suppliers within 20km of your location. Ask for their standard quote and if they deliver past 4pm.
- Update your shortlist, keeping only those suppliers who scored at least three out of five and responded with all required docs.
- Stick all docs and your final shortlist on the side of your trading counter or ops board for the next meeting.
Where checklists usually break down
South African founders get interrupted, especially near the 25th, with staff needing payslips or arranging a City of Cape Town water metre check, like Siyabonga’s car spares fitment in Pinetown. Most checklists break at three spots: forgetting to gather old invoices, chasing WhatsApp replies (no-one wants to be blue-ticked by a supplier), and not updating the shortlist when a supplier ghosts you during load-shedding Stage 4. If your ops manager is off sick, or your best supplier goes radio silent, the wheels come off fast. Use the printed cue list, never memory alone, or the cadence notes to get back on track.
What done looks like: on paper
Done is more than a quick notes scribble. For Supplier Radar, you have a dated scorecard, supplier docs clipped to the back, all quote replies printed or filed, and your shortlist pinned up in your ops corner or inbox, ready for the next shortlisting ritual. You know which suppliers to call first for an urgent order. Your staff can use the scorecard without needing to WhatsApp you at 8pm because it’s all written down. Use the quote week ritual if you need a monthly supplier refresh cycle.
Short example: George jam kitchen
At Hester’s Homemade Jams, just north of George, their year-end always used to dissolve into supplier chaos. Hester and her assistant Julia started using Supplier Radar with the shortlist scorecard on the second Tuesday of each month. They printed three categories (fruit, sugar, packaging), checked each supplier’s CIPC and B-BBEE doc, sent out a quote request (no WhatsApp scrambling), and scored each reply. Their sugar supplier from Mossel Bay was slow, so they X’d them and added a Knysna contact who responded on the same day. When SARS asked for their supplier affidavits at random, Hester had everything in one folder without scrambling to search old inboxes. If you're often in this spot, see supplier shortlist notes or visit the Observatory hub for practical tips.
