What Businesses Need to Know About Indirect Spend

By Anna Duin | August 08, 2018

No matter how big or small your business is, you have to be proactive and strategic about your indirect spend. Left unchecked, indirect (or “unplanned spend”) can quickly become a formidable obstacle.

In this video, group purchasing expert and Una CEO Anthony Clervi shares the one thing all businesses should know about their indirect spend. He also addresses the common mistakes to avoid, and questions you should ask your team. It’s five minutes worth of hard-won insights.

Don’t have time for a video? Keep reading for the key takeaways.

The most important thing businesses should know about indirect spend

Be proactive, don’t wait for a crisis
Start with the Pareto principle – what can you do that will impact 80% of your spend?
Identify your greatest areas of indirect spend. Is it parcel shipping, hotels and travel rates, or office supplies?

Common, unplanned spend mistakes

Being reactive and not taking the time to be strategic
Not thinking outside-the-box
Trying to keep everything in-house, missing out on key partners like GPOs
Boiling the ocean, doing a little here and there, but not moving the needle

Questions to ask your team

What are we doing now to manage our indirect spend?
What data can we review?
What is the ROI of our current efforts?
Do we have decentralized purchasing?
Do we have any category management?
Are we getting everything we need from our distributors and manufacturers?
Do we need to increase our buying power?
What are our goals?
What outside resources could we leverage?
What small changes could we make that would have a significant impact?

The bottom line is, when it comes to managing indirect spend, it all boils down to leveraging your buying power. Whatever the size of your organization, you can gain access to better contracts and discounts than you could negotiate on your own. GPOs like Una are a free resource that can get you there.

Even if you’re doing millions in spend in multiple categories, we can help you leverage and explore savings options that didn’t even know existed.

"You don’t have to hire category experts to save big on supplies. GPOs can deliver bargains across product categories every company uses. Ultimately, you can't save your way to becoming a better company. But you can use those savings to provide more value — that's how you build a better business."