A contracted supply agreement changes the shape of a business. Revenue you can forecast lets you hire, buy equipment, borrow and plan, none of which is sensible when every month starts at zero. One agreement can be worth more than the same revenue won transactionally, because of what it lets you do with the rest of the year.

It also changes how you are read from outside. A lender looking at a business with contracted revenue is looking at a different risk from one looking at a business with good months and bad ones.

Check your capacity honestly before you negotiate volume. The fastest way to lose a contract and your reputation together is to win one you cannot deliver, and buyers talk to each other.

Know your true cost per unit at the volume being discussed, not at your current volume. Costs do not fall as neatly with scale as people assume, and a price set on an optimistic assumption is locked in for the term.