How To Find & Work With Clothing Manufacturers [2024]

Summary

The video 'How to Find & Work with Clothing Manufacturers [2024]' by Apparel Entrepreneurship is a comprehensive guide for anyone in the apparel industry looking for the right manufacturing partner. The creators, with 22 years of industry experience, share insights on how to identify and connect with manufacturers that specialize in specific types of clothing, emphasizing the importance of having a clear brand vision and the right technical documentation. They also discuss the dynamics of building a successful partnership with manufacturers, from understanding different market considerations like local versus overseas production to cultivating respectful, effective communication strategies.

Highlights

• Leverage tech packs and bill of materials to communicate product needs effectively. 🔧
• Consider both local and overseas manufacturers by weighing costs, logistics, and brand goals. 🚀
• Understand cultural differences when working with overseas partners to avoid mishaps. 🌐
• Always verify manufacturer certifications and capacity before engaging. 📜
• Maintain open communication and manage expectations for continuous improvement. 💬

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the importance of a solid tech pack is crucial to getting high-quality product samples. 📦
• Knowing your minimum order quantities (MOQs) helps in choosing the right manufacturing partner. 📊
• The choice between local and overseas manufacturing depends on brand alignment and cost considerations. 🌍
• Building respectful and honest relationships with manufacturers is key to successful partnerships. 🤝
• Being prepared and professional in all communications makes you a preferred partner to manufacturers. 📞

Overview

The journey of finding the right clothing manufacturer can be daunting, but with the right guidance, it's a rewarding path. Apparel Entrepreneurship provides an expert walkthrough on assessing your manufacturing options, emphasizing the need for a solid tech pack, understanding MOQs, and having a well-thought-out brand strategy that aligns with your production choices, be it local or global.

Whether you choose local or overseas manufacturing, each has its pros and cons that must align with your brand’s vision and logistical capabilities. Local manufacturers might cost more but offer easier access and potentially better alignment with your brand’s ethos. On the other hand, overseas manufacturers may provide lower production costs but come with challenges in MOQ and cultural differences.

Successful partnerships with manufacturers are built on respect, clear communication, and mutual understanding. By fostering a positive relationship, you ensure smoother operations and better product outcomes. Manufacturers appreciate professionalism and clarity, which can be achieved through proactive communication, setting realistic timelines, and continually working on improving the partnership.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction: Finding and Working with Clothing Manufacturers Today we discuss the process of finding and working with clothing manufacturers. We delve into methods of identifying the most suitable manufacturers tailored to your specific product and business type. Prior to reaching out to potential manufacturers, we outline the necessary preparations and documentation you need to have ready. Once a manufacturer is identified, further discussions should focus on critical questions that help ensure a good match. Finally, we provide strategies on effectively collaborating with manufacturers to cultivate a successful and productive partnership.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Our Expertise and Experience in Manufacturing The chapter discusses the expertise and experience of the speakers in the manufacturing industry. They have worked within the federal industry for 22 years and have been involved with approximately 150 manufacturers globally. Their experiences range from witnessing exceptional manufacturers to encountering less impressive ones. In addition to this, through their design agency, they collaborate with clients who manufacture products overseas and domestically, showcasing a broad spectrum of industry knowledge and insights.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Understanding Your Product Needs Before Contacting Manufacturers This chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding your product needs before reaching out to manufacturers. With experience since 2007 in collaborating with manufacturers globally, the key insights presented include what manufacturers typically look for when onboarding new clients and important considerations for entrepreneurs starting and running product brands. Prior to contacting a manufacturer, several preparatory steps are outlined to ensure that the engagement is productive and efficient.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Preparing a Tech Pack and Bill of Materials In this chapter, the focus is on preparing a Tech Pack and Bill of Materials, crucial steps in the fashion production process. The discussion emphasizes the importance of clearly defining the type of product you want to create, such as pants, activewear, hoodies, or waterproof jackets. This clarity is essential because manufacturers often specialize in specific categories, meaning that a manufacturer skilled in producing pants may not have the expertise or equipment to produce jackets or knitted tops. Understanding what you want to produce helps in selecting the right manufacturer that aligns with your product type.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Minimum Order Quantities and Scheduling The chapter titled "Minimum Order Quantities and Scheduling" emphasizes the importance of having a well-prepared factory package when approaching a manufacturer. It highlights the need for a tech pack, which serves as a blueprint containing all necessary instructions for creating a prototype and final product. This tech pack is crucial in explaining exactly what type of product you want to manufacture and is vital in getting accurate quotes and starting an effective collaboration with manufacturers.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Advantages of Visiting Manufacturers The chapter discusses the importance of providing manufacturers with a well-prepared tech pack and bill of materials to ensure high-quality samples and final products. A tech pack serves as a comprehensive guide for manufacturers detailing the specifications and requirements of a garment. Coupled with a bill of materials, which lists all necessary components for creating the garment, these documents are essential for preventing the return of subpar samples and products. The chapter emphasizes the significance of thorough preparation in communication with manufacturers to achieve successful outcomes.
• 04:30 - 06:30: Local vs. Overseas Manufacturing: Advantages and Disadvantages The chapter titled 'Local vs. Overseas Manufacturing: Advantages and Disadvantages' discusses the crucial elements involved in product manufacturing. It highlights the importance of creating a comprehensive Tech pack, which includes a measurement list that specifies the exact measurements needed for your products. Manufacturers rely on these details to create product samples accurately. Another key point is understanding the minimum order quantities (MOQ) which indicates the least amount of product units a manufacturer will agree to produce. This chapter emphasizes the necessity of clear communication with the manufacturer regarding quantities to ensure a successful manufacturing process.
• 06:30 - 09:30: Finding Manufacturers: Methods and Resources The chapter discusses strategies for finding suitable manufacturers, highlighting that many have minimum order quantities (MOQs) that could be a barrier for smaller orders. It explains that smaller factories with fewer workers might have lower MOQs compared to larger factories with more resources, as they both need to keep their operations optimized. The text emphasizes the importance of being aware of these requirements when starting to contact manufacturers.
• 09:30 - 13:00: Building Relationships with Manufacturers Building strong relationships with manufacturers is important. Smaller production can handle fewer quantities which may not optimize production costs, margins, or operation. Therefore, it's crucial to plan for higher minimum quantities in production to ensure correct pricing, margins, and good operations for both production and business sustainability.
• 13:00 - 18:00: Questions to Ask Potential Manufacturers In this chapter, the focus is on the preliminary questions and considerations you need to address when approaching potential manufacturers. It emphasizes the importance of understanding your production quantities and the timelines for your product manufacturing. A typical bulk order, whether for wholesale or retail, is about 300 pieces per style, which allows you to get a more accurate pricing from manufacturers. It's critical to communicate your deadlines with manufacturers clearly, as they plan their production schedules at least a year in advance. This requires early and thorough planning on your part to ensure alignment with the manufacturer's production capabilities.
• 18:00 - 22:00: Ensuring Effective Communication and Problem-Solving The chapter emphasizes the importance of early planning and communication in the garment production process. It suggests establishing a timeline for prototypes and production by coordinating with manufacturers. This proactive approach ensures deadlines are met and aligns the product launch with specific events or seasons, even if the product is not yet ready.
• 22:00 - 23:00: Conclusion: Long-term Partnership with Manufacturers The chapter discusses the importance of planning and reverse engineering the launch of a product or event in collaboration with manufacturers. It highlights how brands often aim to launch at specific events or times, such as before Christmas, which is a peak time. The key takeaway is understanding the timeline to communicate effectively with manufacturers to ensure timely delivery.

How To Find & Work With Clothing Manufacturers [2024] Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 today we're going to talk about how to find manufacturers and in particular to find the best manufacturers for your type of product for your type of business we will also talk about what you need before you start contacting and finding manufacturers what kind of package you will need and then once you've found the manufacturer we talk about what you need to ask them to figure out the best match and afterwards we also will talk about how you will best work with them in order to have a successful fruitful partnership
• 00:30 - 01:00 thank you now you might be thinking who are we to sit here and give you advice what what do we know about manufacturing well we've worked in the federal industry for 22 years with a personally I've been at about 150 different manufacturers around the globe I have seen some phenomenal ones I've seen some shitty ones we also work with through designer our design agency we work with clients with that manufacture products both overseas and
• 01:00 - 01:30 local so we know what manufacturers are looking for in collaboration we also know what they think is important when they onboard new clients we've been running this since 2007 and we're working daily with manufacturers worldwide through apparel entrepreneurship we have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs start and run their product Brands and find manufacturers what do you need to know before contacting your manufacturer there are a couple things that you need to figure it out before you start reaching out first
• 01:30 - 02:00 what do you want to do what type of brand what type of business what type of product do you want to to make what what is it do you want to make pants do you want to make active or do you want to make hoodies do you want to make waterproof jackets what exactly is it that you want to create because manufacturers specialize so a manufacturer that might mean be making pants might not be making jackets or knitted tops so you need to know
• 02:00 - 02:30 exactly what type of product you want to create and once you've found a manufacturer you need to have a factory ready package to deliver to them so they can give you the right quote and so you can start working together and the first thing you need in this package is a tick pack a tech pack is basically a blueprint of your garment it's all the instructions needed for the manufacturers start working on your product to make a prototype and finally a final product and the tech pack is really crucial actually because if you
• 02:30 - 03:00 send them a shitty Tech pack that's what you're going to get back a shitty sample later a shitty product uh so making sure that you have really good Tech facts billing materials with the correct specs before you send this to the manufacturer is crucial to get back a really good sample and to get back a really good product the second thing you need after the tech pack is a bill of materials and that's basically a list of all the components needed to create and make your garment listed so you have this together with your tick pack along with
• 03:00 - 03:30 the tech bike you will also have a measurement list where you specify the measurements for your products the manufacturer is going to create the samples based on your Tech pack your build material a new measurement list these are crucial and the manufacturer will be very interested to know the kind of quantities you want to make your products in and you're going to hear the term minimum order quantities moq so that's something you need to know or figure out how many pieces you want to
• 03:30 - 04:00 create when you start contacting manufacturers many of them have minimum order quantities so if you have below a certain amount they will not even start working with you the minimum order quantity depends on the size of the factory some are really small only have let's say 60 sewers whilst others have 1 800 sewers and then of course to make sure that all the lines are operating opt in an optimized way they need volumes well the smaller Factory local Factory they don't have that many sewers so their optimization
• 04:00 - 04:30 in the production is much smaller and they can handle fewer quantities but also for you if you have let's say you're going to produce 20 Styles the number and the price of this product is not going to be optimized for a good operation you need higher amounts of minimum quantities in order to price your products correctly to get the right margin for yourself to get the right margin later for the if you're doing
• 04:30 - 05:00 wholesale or if you're doing retail an average amount is about 300 when you're about 300 pieces per style that's when you can get a more accurate price so you need to know the quantities you want to make your products in and then you should have figured out your time schedule do you have a deadline when do you need to have the finished bulk production let the manufacturer know this from the start you should also know that they took the plan their entire production at least a year ahead of time so don't expect them to call them one
• 05:00 - 05:30 day and start producing your garments and next so start discussing the time schedule early on with the manufacturers so you can plan all the deadlines for the prototypes and also about production also in terms of the time schedule of you can count backwards from the time that you want to launch maybe you're like oh I'm going to launch when my product is ready yeah but you can even though you say have this idea you can still have an event or a season that you
• 05:30 - 06:00 want to launch in start looking at that and then reverse engineer from there some brands also have an event that they know they really need to launch at at the same time some or let's launch Before Christmas because Christmas is the best time so you need to understand that working ahead means also reverse engineering so you know and when to you know how to plan on also to communicate this together with your manufacturer so they can make sure that you have time to
• 06:00 - 06:30 actually create the product at its best quality and price for your brand and this period takes time since you need to send an evaporated package they need to create the prototypes when I have the time send it back to you you have to comment and to fit them and send it back the new instructions and so forth so there's a hack if you really are pressed on time the best thing you can do is to go and visit the factory to create a prototype round once you are there then you can hack down the time and you can
• 06:30 - 07:00 save weeks even months and also what you can do if you're going physically is to bring with your reference samples this is one of the quickest ways to create a qualitative product and to make sure that both you and the manufacturer have the same reference in terms of what it is that you want to achieve for that type of product the type of seams the type of construction the type of hood adjustment for example the type of waist adjustment for the pant the type of pocket solution all these small details
• 07:00 - 07:30 buy or also for fit for example if you have a garment that you know this is the Ace fit that I want to have bring that with you to the manufacturer so they can look at it so they can measure it so they can work the pattern according to your reference sample reference samples you cannot buy enough of reference apples we recommend to buy reference samples if you can for almost everything like if there's Solutions materials fit and pattern of course but also even
• 07:30 - 08:00 details so you can cut an arm off and say this is the cuff that I want to have please make this and so everybody's going to be fully clear 100 on exactly what it is that they're trying to achieve and to be fully prepared for these discussions with the manufacturers it's good to have figured out your estimated Target price have this up your sleeve so you know that you're in the same ballpark as the manufacturer and have their prices when they produce your garments and to learn more about Target prices and costing in general costing your
• 08:00 - 08:30 product please watch this video one of the first thoughts that typically pop up when you start looking for manufacturers should I look for one locally or one overseas or far away in Asia in the US Europe depending on where you're based and there are some advantages and some disadvantages for all options but first I want to mention why do you want to produce let's say in Asia or let's say locally you need to understand what you want to achieve with your brand first if you have a brand
• 08:30 - 09:00 that represents locally made that supports local businesses that is local in general or let's say if you have the made in U.S tag or if you have the made in Europe tag then of course you can go and produce your products in Asia so you need to make sure that you're following the brand that all the products you're creating are on brand according to your brand standards and what you're trying to achieve the bigger Vision the values that you're bringing to the table with
• 09:00 - 09:30 your brand so let's talk about the advantages of producing locally and let's speak about Europe Australia the U.S the good thing is they can easily visit them so you have less travel time less cost when visiting them and also if you have different several different manufacturers that you work with which you typically will have if you have a large collection it's easy to visit them all one disadvantage of producing locally then tip list that you have slightly higher manufacturing costs but you have to remember that if you're a small brand starting out even if you
• 09:30 - 10:00 produce you just see these lower costs for producing overseas for example in Asia then typically you have to go and visit them and these costs add up let's say what what does it cost you to go there one week the travel cost the time you need to spend there so when you add these overheads to your cost then this lower price that you first saw doesn't make as much sense one disadvantage of looking for manufacturers local is it's hard to find a manufacturer to specialize in exactly your type of
• 10:00 - 10:30 product also local manufacturers tend to have slightly higher prices than overseas I should say but this you need to take in consideration when it comes to tolls shipping all these other costs that are not included in the cup making frame or in the fob price that you're getting from the factory so sometimes it might be equal actually when you're calculating everything yeah yeah the advantage of looking overseas
• 10:30 - 11:00 is simply that they have lower cost per piece to produce but also at the same time you tend to have a higher minimum order quantities when you start producing there you also have more options when it comes to manufacturers in Asia one thing I want to mention when it comes to overseas or when it comes to in general manufacturers that it is good that you try to find manufacturers that can speak of first of all of course English so it's easy to communicate with
• 11:00 - 11:30 them but second that you understand each other's cultures or if you don't understand read up on the culture so you don't make any how should I say so you don't step on someone's Toes or make any stupid mistakes that you're not aware of because there's different cultures and there's different ways of Behaving and there's different ways of doing things so I strongly recommend that you read up on that particular culture that you're
• 11:30 - 12:00 going to work with just do's and don'ts uh culture for dummies just make sure that you are aware of the general business and cultural ways for that part of the world yeah you might want to run things your way but remember you're actually doing business in their country when you're partnering up with them and we touched on this earlier but all manufacturers specialize so if you have
• 12:00 - 12:30 a large collection you typically have to find several different manufacturers to produce all your Styles and they specialize in terms of fabric in terms of technique or technology or Machinery they specialize in terms of garment type for example jackets or for example tops or for example only knit materials like Jersey type of materials t-shirt and hoodies or they specialize in only like
• 12:30 - 13:00 Gore-Tex for example so waterproof garments again this turns back to what type of product do you want to make but some manufacturers even though they say they specialize they might be working with subcontractors so let's say you have a collection of 10 Styles and you want to you don't want 10 different manufacturers kind of want to consolidate your manufacturing and let's say you you have an idea let's only try to find two manufacturers then of course
• 13:00 - 13:30 you can have a conversation with them and ask okay so I'm having all these pants but also these shorts are in slightly different material but is there any possibility for you to make both if not would you have a subcontractor that can do this but that we have only communication with you so there's ways of going about this and trying to consolidate so you don't have too many manufacturers so it's not too spread out yeah so how do you actually find the manufacturers remember that there are thousands of Manufacturers out there
• 13:30 - 14:00 worldwide so you have to do the preparation work as we've been speaking about you need to figure out what kind of products you want to make you need to figure out the kind of pro pro you need to figure out the quantities you want to make it in the Target price do all your have all your technical documentations ready you want to narrow in on this search otherwise it would be really hard to find one single manufacturer that will suit you the first option is as you probably already thought of just search for it on search engines like Google
• 14:00 - 14:30 type in your specific criteria for the manufacturer you're looking for this is not a very targeted search you don't know anything about the manufacturer popping up you don't know if it's good or not or just good at SEO you don't know that so a better option is to go for references do you know anyone in the Apparently industry do you know anyone running a clothing brand ask them for their manufacturers do they have any good recommendations for manufacturers start working with also uh some some brands also have the manufacturer listed
• 14:30 - 15:00 on their website most specifically sustainable brands or purpose-driven Brands because they have a transparent business operation they list basically where they make everything their their suppliers and also their manufacturers this is a good way to checking uh because then you know that you love that brand you know their products you love their quality all right so where do they make their stuff it's easy to check another thing is of course Alibaba we
• 15:00 - 15:30 have personally never worked directly with the manufacturer that we've found on Alibaba we know many of you do so this is an option as well but of course then you have to rely on reviews and also on referrals and references and making sure that they send you samples but yeah or certifications that you really do your due diligence with these type of businesses and also you can look into in this history networks this can be a trade organization in your country
• 15:30 - 16:00 handling it's the working with manufacturers and clothing brand in the tech style industry they might have lists that you can use in many countries there are organizations that help National businesses establish overseas they have special relationships in other countries you look at them if they can help you get established say the interest in getting into this specific country do they have any lists for manufacturers in that country that you can take part of yeah in Sweden we have business Sweden you can contact them and
• 16:00 - 16:30 you can help them you can ask them to help you look for manufacturers in specific Ally they typically also organize events when you go to a country or they invite manufacturers from other countries to come to other countries you can visit them at a fair and then of course you can go visit fashion and Industry fairs uh this is specifically good because then if let's say if you're going to a fabric Fair like Premiere Vision or performance days for example then you're having fabrics
• 16:30 - 17:00 and manufacturers at the same time and of course you will need both to produce garments so this is a really good a really good idea also if you're going at Fashion fairs most of the time you see competitor garments or competitive Brands so you can look at what's new you can look at what quality they have etc etc you can kind of have a good understanding of what's going on in the industry but at the same event you also have suppliers and manufacturers one of
• 17:00 - 17:30 these type of fares is for example ispo which is the biggest outdoor and sports Fair there is and that's really efficient in Europe yeah before the pandemic they had 2 800 manufacturers and suppliers in at the fair so it's really efficient if you go there for a couple of days just talk to all the manufacturers there you probably will find all your manufacturers that you need one other thing you can do is to ask manufacturers for suppliers and suppliers for manufacturers referrals
• 17:30 - 18:00 who do they recommend you have found a really good fabric this is fantastic you're talking to the sales rep great we love this fabric what are your best manufacturers that you're shipping this fabric to or who are your best recommendations for this type of garment then you're getting idea that we're not going to recommend any bad manufacturers so most of the time it's really good recommendation but remember that you need before they even recommend to you
• 18:00 - 18:30 you need to be you perceived as a very professional uh certain study like for real business and not like a hobby type of brand because they will not recommend you if they see that you're not you know for real and you can also go to a parallelopreneurship.com both in the tools section and in the membership we have a list of over 700 manufacturers and suppliers worldwide and they are categorized into different sections so
• 18:30 - 19:00 you can easily find contact information for these manufacturers and you also have Fashion District associations they have lists basically you just need to call them up and say this is who I am this is what I'm doing this is what I'm trying to achieve what are your recommendations where can I find this information and most of the time they have this on their website or they will give it to you when you talk to them or when you go visit at their their office plus there's other websites that you can
• 19:00 - 19:30 go directly to for example foresource or makers Row in the U.S or sketch for example these you can check out their paid Services you also have manify or support for example so these you can also go check out once found all the manufacturers and created a list of all the ones you want to approach there are some questions you could ask them to figure out if this will be a good match the first question can ask is do you
• 19:30 - 20:00 take on new customers and do they take on on your kind of business as a new customer some might be reluctant taking on startups so they will say that right away or they just love to work with startups and this is not just because you figure out if they work with your type of business but also if they have the time to take on businesses right now they might be fully booked yeah their capacity is is full basically but what you can do if you're a startup and your quantities are not that high you can say okay I don't actually have a deadline or
• 20:00 - 20:30 like a set deadline what is the low time period for you when do you have the lowest what the when when do you have the least to do can you squeeze me in so this is something you can discuss with them because uh they might have really big clients that are occurring and coming back can constantly but these might be season-based customers let's say you're a d2c brand then you're not really based on season so they will be
• 20:30 - 21:00 able to squeeze you in to produce your garments way before let's say and and finish your garments way before they finish another client's products that are like a season ahead so if they click on new customers that's fantastic then check if they can make your type of product and if they have the right type of machinery for that let's say you want to make a tape jacket then you want to see that they have a seamed sealing machine for example so they actually can make that kind of product and of course
• 21:00 - 21:30 in order to do this they need to see your attack packs and they need to see your bill of material they need to understand exactly the details and the intricacy of the product you're trying to create we mentioned a good way to find manufacturers is to ask for references the same thing goes when you found a manufacturer ask them for their references who else are they working with what other kind of Brands this can be a really good indication for you what kind of quality you will get out of the products and I want to mention one thing here in terms of quality if you're
• 21:30 - 22:00 contacting a big manufacturer and you know they work with big Brands then of course they have they must have really high quality because of those Brands so they have processes and a complete different type of quality level than if you would go with this smaller manufacturer somewhere then they work with no name brands you don't know whatever Brands they are it might pay for you to up the minimum order quantity
• 22:00 - 22:30 get buy more products just to get in that factory so you can reach that type of level also this could be a door opener for you for investors for example or also when and when in your communication with your customers because you'll be able to say we're in the same manufacturer as I don't know Nike or as a Levi's or as Michael Kors or as whatever brand that you're referring to then ask them can they give you a price example the best way to give them your Tech pack after that they can
• 22:30 - 23:00 make an analysis and give you a price example but remember you will not get an exact price until they made a first prototype and another thing to remember is what kind of price are they giving you is it CMT cut make trim or is it fob Freight on board it means cut make trim that means just for making the Garment it's not fabric for example included fob means fabric is included but not the
• 23:00 - 23:30 transportation from them to you so make sure to know what kind of price are they giving you and especially if you ask several manufacturers make sure they have given the same kind of price when you start comparing them the thing to check is what type of services do they offer can they create the patterns for you do they have design support for example do they have packaging do they have what can they actually do in-house do they have printing in-house or do they have to
• 23:30 - 24:00 Outsource this do they have their embroidery machines in-house what basically what can they help you with a manufacturer that can do most of the things is better because they don't have to Outsource them if they Outsource then there's longer lead times Etc there's things that can happen in the transportation in the communication there's like more chefs in the pie in the cooking which you don't want so you want one source that can create everything but of course if they can do the patterns in-house this is fantastic
• 24:00 - 24:30 because then they make the patterns the patterns are production optimized for their facility which means that it's a smoother process than if you would go and do the patterns with someone else and then bring them in and then they have to take those patterns and then Pro production optimize them for their own facility Etc it's like a hassle so it's better if they can do more for you we spoke about minimum order quantities this is the next thing you want to ask about do they have any minimum order
• 24:30 - 25:00 quantities that you have to consider what kind of minimums are they talking about is it per style precise per color just ask them about this and see if they're a match and also let's say you're a startup and you don't really reach the minimum order quantities if you're good at explaining your business idea and where you're going and they can see your vision they might be open to actually start with lower quantities because they want to have you as a long-term client for them if they have
• 25:00 - 25:30 too high minimum order quantities for you and you really want to start working with them you can ask if they work with surcharges this is something they typically do they can make lower quantities but then they will add a surcharge and this is not such a bad idea if you're a startup just get started you know you will get your products yes you'll get a cut on your margin but you will get your products out there and you can improve this later on and besides surcharge this is one more thing you can ask for most brands are working with the same seasons so the
• 25:30 - 26:00 manufacturers have the Peak at the same time you can ask them as my Anna mentioned earlier do they have a low season is it possible to produce lower quantities in their low season for them could be good business to fill up their full time schedule one other thing to think about are they super transparent with their with their what are those uh can you sign a contract you also want a contract from your end that you both agree we
• 26:00 - 26:30 actually have terms and agreements contract in our membership a template that you can use with most of the manufacturers it works fine but if they are not okay with signing a terms of agreement contract why not uh what do they agree to instead what are they what are the terms for you to make sure that they confirm and that it you know it's something that they will follow up on so terms of agreements is I think in it's
• 26:30 - 27:00 really important that you nail hopefully not going to use it legally but it's a good way to find out that you're on the same level and they're in agreement of your terms one other thing you need to check is how much do they charge for sampling what does the Prototype cost some factories taken which is completely normal is two to three times fob price per sample because they there's no guarantee that you will continue making this style with them if
• 27:00 - 27:30 you're a bigger brand and if you after year after year you've worked with them you have a solid relationship most of the time the samples is included in the production price before you get to production you have to make sure you double check on how much the sampling is actually going to cost you we mentioned earlier that you need to figure out your time schedule and talk with the manufacturer about this so ask specifically when do they have time do their time when you need your garments
• 27:30 - 28:00 and when can you fit it into their production also make sure that you ask okay now I'm gonna send you my tech packs how long will it take before I get my first sample after my first sample and I take a week for example to comment fit I send it back how long will it take for the second sample how long that you're basically that discussing and that they have an open conversation with you on the entire time frame so you know exactly how to plan your time and your
• 28:00 - 28:30 team's time the last question you can ask them is do they have any certifications this is especially important if you have a sustainable profile which we hope you do see what kind of certifications do they have this this means that they have a certain standard when it comes to sustainability and ethics and Manufacturing and also of course when they show you proof of the certification make sure that it has the date on it and that it states on how long it's valid for because we've seen
• 28:30 - 29:00 many times factories sending certifications and they their due date was three years ago so yeah check the dates and remember let's say they have a specific sustainability certification read up on how you can use that on your website in your marketing because it's they have the certification it's not you so you have to be specific in terms of how you express yourself when using it
• 29:00 - 29:30 remember in order to use their logo to use their taglines to even say that you are certified or that your products are certified so this all sounds easy but we know that many of you find it difficult to get the response you want why is this and basically why is this hard to get inside even if you get a response why do they say no to you well what's what's the issue how can you get in on the in
• 29:30 - 30:00 the manufacturer and also how can you make sure that you have a long lasting partnership what can you do here are a couple of things uh you can do first of all you need to have everything that we've mentioned in order before contacting them because only then they will know that you mean business that you're a professional entity you're not a diyer that's just checking things out because they don't have time for you they don't have because time for them is money they don't have time to educate
• 30:00 - 30:30 you to answer all your crazy question even though we say yes there are no stupid questions when it comes to manufacturers they don't have time they don't have time to educate you they don't have time to take you know answer all the for them basic questions so make sure you know what you're talking about you know the lingo you know the the process you know exactly what's gonna happen many of the manufacturers they get so many requests all the time so make sure you stand up make sure you
• 30:30 - 31:00 follow up make sure you have a professional approach and presenting yourself in your business in a way that they find it interesting to start doing business with you ask these questions hopefully you got some good answers and you'll find some manufacturers that you want to start working with we've been in the industry for years and we work daily manufacturers and clients that work with manufacturers we see it happens all the time the Partnerships go south ways what can you do to improve the partnership with
• 31:00 - 31:30 your manufacturer there's some things that we see over and over again most of the things might seem basic but we're going to mention them in a way because if you just think of these things it's going to be so much easier for you it's not basic it's just common sense but many don't have that unfortunately and then they wonder why other companies don't want to work with them first of all you have to treat them with respect they're not there to work for you you are in the collaboration and the partnership together as equals 50 50.
• 31:30 - 32:00 you don't owe them they don't owe you anything you don't boss over them you don't tell them what to do you're in the relationship equally they support you you support them that's did when that's established and when they understand this then you can actually have a a regular conversation in terms of business because they understand you and they know you and they figure you out on a human type of level and then it comes
• 32:00 - 32:30 to the culture of course you have to yes take them out for dinner you have to yes when you go bring gifts to the boss bring chocolate to the team make sure that you are feeling you know welcome and that you are welcoming relationship and that you are excited to be there you're not just there to kind of boss around so build that relationship and second you have to let them in on your story what is it that you're trying to achieve what is the bigger Vision when they
• 32:30 - 33:00 understand this they can see and plan in their own head because they think they're thinking money and they're thinking time and capacity and they're thinking Machinery so you're telling them I want to become the next gym shark then for them it's like okay what type of Machinery do I need okay then we need this type of investment then okay what type of investment do you have so all of a sudden it's a completely different conversation than if you're a Moms and Pops little you know I want to sell three pair of tights from my garage it's
• 33:00 - 33:30 a completely different game I'm not saying one is better than the other but you need to be open and honest with what you're trying to achieve and then basically even if you're saying you're having this bigger Vision you have to show how you're going to get to the bigger Vision because they need to see your plan so they can support you in the plan because again they might only have now 100 grid sewers but for to achieve your bigger mission in three years they might have to increase their sell their sewers by double triple the amount so
• 33:30 - 34:00 they need to figure and plan this out together with you and you mentioned honest think of honestly all the time what are your issues what are you happy with what are you not happy with let them in on it what are your plans how are they changing how what's happening now right now how is that affecting your business why is this really relevant to you just have an open honest conversation they're business partners and then basically straight up ask them
• 34:00 - 34:30 uh we know that we're a startup or we know that we've only run our business for three years and we're a small business what can we do what do we need to prove to you that we are worthy of your partnership just again like show that you want this and show that what can or there's some is there something we can improve in our operations to make it easier for you to collaborate with us so again be open and and flexible with how you can work together remember 50 50 equal not like this ever and think and
• 34:30 - 35:00 plan long term if you are tough on them and use profanities now do you think they want to work with you long term no it's not going to work in the long run treat them in a respectful way just the same way as you would like to be created and respected at the same time we're saying this yes business is business yes you should negotiate yes you should kind of like yes I'm gonna give you this be easy on you with this but then you need
• 35:00 - 35:30 to deliver this this is always something that needs to happen we're not saying you need to have your guard up ever but we need to you need to think and attack this in a business Manner and remember that this is business it's not personal and it's business for them as much for you but at the same time it's a person that does business with a person so the human aspect needs to be involved but remember and have it in the back of your
• 35:30 - 36:00 head that it is you're doing a business you're not there to win you know get a new best friend even though this happens in many of our best dearest friends are from the industry because we've worked with them so so much but at the same time it's business and you have clear expectations of what you want them to deliver to you you need to know what you have to deliver in order for the partnership to work what do you need to give them so they can keep the time schedule so they don't have to wait and we'll be delayed because you haven't delivered so
• 36:00 - 36:30 understand what you need to deliver and when you should deliver and actually execute on it another thing is communication uh we say this all the time preferably over communicate preferably create all your Tech packs all your documents like you would create them for a three-year-old they should be dumb dumb because if you're going overseas you're working with a manufacturer that doesn't have English as their first language every single document will be translated for the
• 36:30 - 37:00 people that work behind the merchandiser everybody needs to understand so it needs to be extremely clear in all the documents you need to be extremely clear in your Communication in all your email say okay please confirm please confirm always get things confirmed uh did that did I am I clear enough do you have any further questions is this don't assume anything ever never
• 37:00 - 37:30 assume anything that anything is clear until they've confirmed it if you should have one takeaway from this episode it's remember that it's all about problem solving when it comes to product development it's a roller coaster things do not go according to plan but that's part of the game just have those expectations you're there to solve the problems be pragmatic work with the manufacturer to have the best outcome and then everything will be
• 37:30 - 38:00 great and you will have much less stress when working with the manufacturer I've in 22 years never seen because many of our clients especially startups they're like they're receiving the first sample then they're like what is it not perfect well it never is perfect there's a always work to do Proto one Proto 2 Proto 3 salesman sample pre-production sample photo sample there's always things to perfect
• 38:00 - 38:30 and even when you think that now we've nailed it there's still gonna be things that are not according to plan because some things have fallen between chairs the cord is 2cm too short or the poly bag is has the print upside down or there's always going to be things happening happens this is it this is the industry this is the expectation so if you're going to stress over every single thing and be like Oh but they didn't
• 38:30 - 39:00 hear me out they didn't do this they should have blamed the blame games stuff it's not gonna happen just take away the blame game breathe a couple of times and then try to look at it how can you solve the problem always be in problem mode instead of blaming mode and also if you have further questions that you need answered in terms of manufacturing sourcing whatever uh DM or write them below and yeah we'll answer
• 39:00 - 39:30 them in future episodes thank you bye