Here is what I, as a potential customer, look for. Do with it what you please.
-test results, even if they’re not from the most reliable guy out there; something is better than nothing, and sterile, properly dosed gear is priority #1 and always will be.
-security; nobody wants to get caught up with the law because a source was lax with their opsec
-the ability to manage expectations; I would not be upset if a source came on and said “hey, we are backed up like crazy and orders will take an extra X days to fill”; everyone here gets that it isn’t easy to run an operation, so all you need to do is deliver whatever it is you promise; if you say you can do a thing then you must always be able to do that thing
-price is mostly irrelevant to me, because most UGLs are within a close approximation of each other; don’t be the cheapest or the most expensive, just be Goldilocks and nobody will complain too much
I think that’s a perfectly reasonable idea of what most of us want. Prove you can do those things and you’ll be successful.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.