Answer: To be the best in the world at what you do means you must purchase quality products, parts, ingredients, technology, etc. Thomas Keller is not as intested in the price of an item as he is in the quality and the dependability of the supplier. On the other hand, just as Thomas is finding the high quality ingredients he needs from all over the world, you may be able to find the best prices. Global sourcing is comparison shopping for your customers throughout the entire world. Prior to the revolution of the Internet, this was virtually impossible for the small business owner.

Today, the most remote vendor is just a few keyboard clicks away. Suppose you had a cold and went to your local pharmacy to purchase your favorite cold medicine. There it is on the shelf, at a certain price. Do you buy it or do you note the price, get back in your car, and travel to 25 more pharmacies and grocery stores to get that same product at the best possible price? Of course, you buy it. But suppose all the prices for that cold medicine at the various locations surrounding your home were known to you before you left your house? Wouldn’t you go directly to the best offer? That’s what the Internet has done for us!

As small business owners, from our businesses, we can research available products quickly, accurately and globally. Global sourcing doesn’t just mean getting the best prices, it means expanding the product catalog to more pages than we can possibly imagine. We have the opportunity to provide our customers with the best products at the best prices. We can change our inventory mix from week to week always offering our customer the best selection of quality at the most reasonable prices possible.

Chef Thomas Keller does this. He, like so many chefs, cooks with what is fresh and to him, fresh is what can arrive from the field, ocean, stream or ranch just a few hours after it has been harvested.

You think about it: Are you taking advantage of global sourcing possibilities available to you? Have you changed the way you procure goods and services because of the Internet? Could you?