0:00 Choosing the right supplier for your dropshipping business? Let's be real. It can literally make or break you. Today, we're going to break down exactly how you can pick the perfect partner on Hustle Got Real so you can build your store on a foundation that's solid as a rock. 0:15 I mean, it feels like a huge decision, right? Because it is. It's the very foundation of your entire store. And getting this wrong? Oh boy, that can lead to some really serious headaches 0:26 for your business down the road. 0:28 What kind of problems are we talking about? Well, imagine losing money just because the supplier's price suddenly shoots up without you noticing. 0:35 Or, you know, selling an item that's actually out of stock, which means you have to cancel orders. 0:40 And worst of all, super slow shipping that leads directly to unhappy customers and those dreaded one-star reviews. The stakes are incredibly high here. 0:49 But hey, don't worry. We've got a clear roadmap to help you navigate all of this. 0:53 We'll start with the supplier puzzle, then check out your market options. 0:57 After that, we'll learn to decode supplier behavior, see how automation is your safety net, and finally, put it all together so you can choose your partner wisely. 1:07 Okay, first up, the supplier puzzle. This isn't just about picking a random name from a list. 1:13 It's about making a fundamental shift in how you think about what a supplier actually is to your business. Here's the key. Think of your supplier as a silent partner. Seriously. 1:23 They're not just some warehouse somewhere. Their performance is your performance. 1:28 Their reliability directly affects your store's reputation and, of course, your profits. 1:32 Once you start thinking this way, the whole selection process just gets so much clearer. 1:37 So if they're a partner, where do you find them? 1:40 That brings us to our next section, your market, your options. 1:43 Because before you can pick a partner, you got to know who's even available in your business's neighborhood, right? Finding your potential partners inside Hustle Got Real is super simple. Your journey starts right in your settings. Just give suppliers a click. 1:57 This is basically your command center for sourcing. 2:00 And here's the best part. 2:01 Hustle Got Real has already done the heavy lifting for you. 2:04 It doesn't just dump a giant overwhelming list in your lap. Nope. 2:08 It automatically filters everything and shows you only the suppliers that are relevant to the country your store is in. 2:14 Let's see this in action. 2:15 Here on the left, you can see this huge list tailored specifically for the UK market. 2:20 And then on the right, you've got a totally different set of suppliers for the US with big names like Amazon US, Walmart, and Home Depot. Different markets, different partners. 2:30 Makes sense, right? 2:31 And this goes for all across Europe too. So whether you're selling in Spain or Germany, you get a curated list just for you. This is why geography is always the first and honestly the most important filter in your entire search. 2:44 And the amount of choice can be massive. I mean, the UK market alone has over 70 options. 2:48 That's a lot of potential partners, which is exactly why you need a strategy to narrow them down from the get-go. 2:54 Which brings us right to the core of our strategy, decoding supplier behavior. 2:59 This is where you learn to read the five key signals that tell you if a supplier is actually a good fit for your business or maybe not so much. 3:08 So what do I actually mean by behavior? It's pretty simple. It's just how a supplier handles its stock, how it manages pricing, and how it deals with stripping. Each one is unique. And Hustle Got Real's automation is specifically built to understand and adapt to all these little differences. 3:24 Let's start with the first signal, the speed of their stock updates. And trust me, this one is absolutely critical if you want to avoid that nightmare of selling items that are already sold out. And the difference can be huge. A giant like Amazon, they might update their inventory levels multiple times a day, so the data is almost always fresh. On the other hand, a smaller boutique supplier might only update once a day. Now, HDR's system is constantly checking for you, but knowing this difference helps you figure out your own risk level. 3:54 Okay, next up, signal number two, dynamic pricing. This is the one that can silently eat away at your profits if you're not paying attention. Some suppliers, especially big marketplaces like Amazon, can change their prices daily or even hourly. It's wild. 4:11 So how do you protect yourself? Well, this is where automation becomes your absolute best friend. Hustle Got Real automatically adjusts your store's price to match the supplier's changes, and it always applies your preset profit rules. You'll never get caught selling something for a loss because a supplier decided to hike their price without you noticing. 4:28 Behavior number three is all about shipping, which, let's face it, is really all about customer happiness. Matching your supplier's location to your customer's location is so key. If you're selling in the UK, using Amazon UK means fast delivery. Happy customer. But if you choose a global supplier, that customer might be waiting weeks for their package, and that's a recipe for a bad review. 4:50 Finally, we have the more technical behaviors. You know, stuff like URL structures and verified integrations. But the good news here? You can pretty much forget about these. 5:01 Hustle Got Real's system is built to handle all that complex, behind-the-scenes work of tracking stock, price, and variations for you. 5:08 And the fact that Hustle Got Real handles all of this for you brings us to a really crucial point. The role of automation as your safety net. It's constantly reading all these signs on your behalf. Think of the platform's automation like this little robot here. Your own personal dropshipping assistant. It's working 24-7, monitoring every single one of those supplier signals. Stock levels, price changes, availability, so you can focus on actually growing your business, instead of constantly checking up on your partners. 5:38 So, we've learned how to decode supplier behavior, and we know we've got automation on our side. 5:43 Now, it's time to put it all together for our final takeaway. Choosing your partner. 5:47 You see, understanding supplier behavior really is your path to success. It's what allows you to pick reliable sources, to avoid the risk of selling out-of-stock items, to keep your profits stable with automation, and ultimately, to make your customers happy with smart shipping choices. 6:02 It all connects. 6:03 And so, we're back where we started, but with a whole new perspective. Everything we've talked about today comes down to this one single powerful idea. Your supplier is a silent partner in your business. So, knowing what you know now, who will you choose?