Thoughts:
“Document your process or prepare to repeat your mistakes.”
“Every time you write down a process, you buy back freedom.”
“Don’t trust memory. Trust your systems.”
“Your business can only scale to the level your systems can repeat.”
I once ran an ad that worked TOO well.
Sales were coming in fast.
We were shouting “God when”.
Then everything collapsed.
Wanna guess the cause?
Not ads. Not product.
A supplier.
Our supplier.
That one person I was trusting to deliver – ghosted.
Just like that, my most successful campaign died a painful, expensive death.
We had just found a hot product.
A high-ticket beauty item.
Our profit was sweet ₦50k per unit.
I was already dreaming of a December in Dubai to chill again.
I called the supplier. He said he had enough stock.
I said, “You sure?” He said, “Oga relax, I dey for you.”
So we went hard.
I pumped in ₦450k in ads per day.
Orders came flying in.
No one is selling the product in Nigeria, just my supplier.
Then I called the supplier again to collect stock…
“Oga e be like say we go restock next week o.”
He was silence.
Then he said, “E be like say the product don finish oooh”
I froze.
That moment taught me something that changed how I run my business forever:
If you don’t systematize your sourcing… You’ll always be one supplier away from disaster.
Scaling Without Systems Is Gambling
See ehn, many of us are chasing more sales…
But we’re not building a business.
If your supplier process is still vibes and phone calls.
You’re not scaling anything.
You’re surviving. Until it breaks.
Your Brain Is Not a System
You can’t scale what lives in your head.
If your team can’t source the product without calling you…
You don’t own a business.
You own a job.
Systems make freedom possible.
SOPs are not “corporate stress.” They’re freedom tools.
The more you document, the less you panic.
The Painful Lessons I Learned About Suppliers
1: Sourcing Is a System, Not a Relationship
Your supplier is NOT your friend.
They’re a vendor. Treat it like a system, not a favor.
Here’s the mistake:
Most Ecommerce owners don’t even have a checklist.
They just save a number, say “call this guy,” and hope for the best.
What you need is a documented SOP:
• Where to find suppliers
• What questions to ask
• How to confirm stock
• How to check pricing vs. competitors
• What red flags to watch for
Once it’s written down, it becomes a repeatable system.
So even if you’re not around, your staff can follow it and get the same results.
I’ll show you a trick I use to never get lied to about stock numbers again…
2: Ask Questions That Force The Truth
Here’s what I do now:
Instead of asking, “Do you have stock?”
I ask, “How many are in your warehouse right now?”
If they say, “Plenty,” I press.
“Count it for me now. I’ll wait.”
That one question has saved me millions.
Because the truth is – most suppliers will tell you what you want to hear.
Until it’s time to deliver.
You need to learn how to force honesty with smart questions and verification steps.
But even after you find the right supplier and ask all the right questions, there’s one more step most people skip…
STRATEGY 3: Always Have a Backup (Documented)
I don’t care how “sure” your supplier is.
If you don’t have a backup supplier on file, written in your sourcing SOP…
You’re playing yourself.
I now have 2+ verified backups for every hot product we run.
They’re documented, vetted, and contacted every week for updates by my inventory manager.
So if Supplier A messes up, I don’t panic – I just forward the order to Supplier B.
Zero delay. Zero drama.
It’s like having a spare tire.
You may not need it every day, but when you do… it saves your whole journey.
Don’t Overcomplicate It
Don’t write a PhD thesis for your SOPs.
Just open a Google Doc.
Write what you normally do in bullet points.
Boom. That’s your sourcing SOP v1.
Refine it as you go.
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be consistent.
And if you’re wondering what a complete sourcing system looks like… you don’t have to guess.
Inside Ecommerce Success Launchpad, we don’t just tell you to “build systems.”
We give you the systems.
There’s a full module called “Discover Suppliers (Local & China)” that shows you how to:
✅ Find trusted local & international suppliers
✅ Build repeatable sourcing systems
✅ Verify product quality before you run ads
✅ Negotiate like a pro (with tested scripts)
✅ Avoid getting scammed or delayed
Plus…
You get the “Done-For-You SOP Template”
This is how you move from “hoping” for reliable stock
…to knowing you can scale your orders without fear.
You can’t skip this part and win long term.
The bigger you grow, the more painful supplier mistakes become.
So join Ecommerce Success Launchpad today and systematize the part of your business that holds everything together.
👉 Start here: https://ecomwing.com/esl
You’ll never source with guesswork again.
