I have seen things like "paying vendors on time" and "your vendors" talked about by photographers. What is this actually talking about?
What is a good example of this?
"Paying vendors on time"
Examples of vendors would be photo and print labs, gear rental agencies, suppliers of wedding albums and so forth. Would also apply to assistants such as 2nd shooters or retouchers. Anyone that supplies paid products or services to the photographer.
A vendor is simply a person or company offering something for sale. A good example of this would be a wedding photography vendor. There may be a wedding facility or company that has a list of trusted photographers that they would refer. They may call these photographers "Preferred Vendor Status". These are photographers that a wedding service trust to do a good job.