here are the five steps to finding a

manufacturer to get your product

made if you’ve never done this before

this video is for you

because we’re gonna go through this step

by step and i’m gonna teach you some

secret hacks on how you can save money

while you’re doing this you’re in good

hands so let’s get started

[Music]

hi everyone i’m your host michelle bally

i have my own ecommerce business where i

brought

a brand new makeup product to market

through trial and error i found my

product producer

and trust me i made all the mistakes for

you so that you don’t have to

but in any case i love that you’re

looking to bring a new product to market

because this is your first step

in a successful business if your product

serves a specific problem

and you can see that there isn’t already

a product out there that solves it

you’re already one step ahead of the

game let’s hop into the five steps

also if after watching this video you

want even more help finding a product

make sure that you’re checking out our

free 40-minute webinar that’s going to

teach you how to find winning product

ideas

how to validate them and how to get

started just click the link in the

description box below to get started

with this free training now

research first you’re going to need to

do some research

here are three ways to do solid research

so you can use

alibaba directories and you can take it

offline by attending conventions

let’s start with alibaba alibaba is a

place where people go to find products

that are already existing however this

is a bit of a life hack because you can

search for a similar product on alibaba

and start connecting with manufacturers

for your custom request

but before we begin let me tell you that

vetting manufacturers

is extremely important your manufacturer

is going to control the cost of your

product

the quality control the packaging and

the shipping and they can really make or

break your business

also depending on what you’re making it

can take as long as a year to bring a

new product to market

so let’s do the vetting work up front so

that we don’t have to backtrack later

i lost five months of time working with

the wrong partner so here’s how you can

learn from my mistakes so let’s input

lunchboxes and then hit search by

suppliers

first look for the right classifications

look for suppliers that are gold

suppliers

this means that they’re paying for their

membership make sure that they’re

assessed

meaning someone from a third party or

alibaba themselves have been to their

factory

also look to see that the supplier has

trade assurance

this is a free service offered by

alibaba that allows you to dispute a

purchase if the quality isn’t there

so look for that as well you can

continue to search by applying filters

filter by certifications to find a

manufacturer that meets quality

safety and efficiency standards so let’s

say humane working conditions is a

non-negotiable for you

you’ll want to make sure that they have

an sa 8000 certificate

i’ll link a list of certifications for

you in the description box

so let’s click into one here first thing

i see

is whether they are a manufacturer or a

trading company

we want to deal directly with a

manufacturer rather than a trading

company

a trading company is essentially a

middleman however if it says

manufacturer and trading this is also

acceptable as it means they’re able to

export your

products now look to see where they’re

located

if they’re claiming to be manufacturer

and their address says suite 201

it’s unlikely that you’re dealing with a

manufacturing plant

a good sign however is if they are

located in an industrial area

you want to make sure that the people

you’re working with are honest business

people

so if you’re noticing any red flags make

a note of this

and then bring it up to them as the

relationship evolves

to be a hundred percent sure you can

always schedule a video call to see

their production floor

if they keep putting your meeting off

that’s going to be a red flag and you’re

going to want to move on so trust your

gut and trust your instincts on this

look to see how many years they’ve been

in business this is subjective so

for me i look at it as if it were a job

interview if a candidate came to me

and said i only have one year experience

i would not be comfortable putting the

fate of my own business in their hands

my personal threshold is three years

plus because that indicates to me that

i’m not going to have to mentor them

and potentially pay for their mistakes

quick tip is to also look at how niche

the manufacturer is

if they’re creating lunchbox on the one

end and then tutus on the other

you might want to think twice a

manufacturer that focuses on one niche

will reflect how much leverage they have

on the purchase of their raw materials

for one

and secondly a niche manufacturer also

means that their workers are good

workers that focus on this one thing day

in and day out will reliably produce

quality items consistently if you’re

keen on using alibaba as a way to find a

manufacturer

just skip over to the outreach section

time stamped in the description box

but another way to do research is by

using good old directories

one of the best ways to find a

manufacturer is through free online

supplier directories

these directories contain hundreds if

not thousands of manufacturers

wholesalers and suppliers some popular

domestic ones are thomasnet

makers row mfg and compass some overseas

directories

are oberlo aliexpress india mart

dhgate and sourcify

conventions and trade shows and the last

way to find a manufacturer

is through conventions different

industries will have a handful of go-to

conventions

so right now with kovid actually going

is impossible

but normally you would want to go in

person and meet the right people

until we get this covered mess sorted

out check out the convention exhibitor

list

to start getting in touch with

manufacturers online this actually ends

up being more time efficient in the long

run

there are two schools of thought when it

comes to how you should present yourself

on the one hand you can introduce

yourself as a small business

introduce yourself as a business owner

who is extremely passionate about

getting up and running

taking that approach leaves you a little

bit more vulnerable to being taken

advantage of

but on the plus side you can also leave

yourself open to allowing your

manufacturer to be an amazing mentor

and growing together the second school

of thought is presenting yourself as a

large business

introduce yourself as a purchasing agent

or a chief operations officer rather

than the founder

this makes your company appear

established which gives you leverage in

negotiations

so when you’re negotiating you could

pass off blame and say

oh sorry my boss didn’t approve of those

numbers this keeps your relationship

with a manufacturer in good standing

and they’re less likely to take

negotiations personally

so now you know how to find a

manufacturer from alibaba directories

and conventions

what i would recommend is securing two

manufacturers

establish an emergency vendor so that if

your overseas manufacturer is late

or they send you the wrong order you can

always use your local manufacturer

local might be more expensive but it’s

important to have a backup option

even if it does eat into your profit

margins just make sure that you know

that they’re locally manufacturing

because if they’re also getting their

stuff from overseas

then you might run into the same problem

twice having a backup manufacturer also

gives you

leverage in negotiations shopify is

offering

a free 14-day trial all you have to do

is click the link in the description

box to take action so that you can level

up your ecommerce business

so you’ll want at least three quotes

once you have your manufacturers on your

radar you’re going to want to ask them

these nine

important questions so first of all can

they accommodate your custom order

do they have the resources do they have

the skill level to produce what it is

that you’re looking for

secondly what are their moqs so moq

stands for minimum order quantity most

manufacturers will only fill

a certain order over a certain amount so

depending on who you talk to this could

be a thousand

or it could be twenty thousand but

you’re going to want to make sure that

you’re negotiating

these terms generally speaking it’s

better to start with less inventory

that way you can test the market and

you’re not going to have to worry about

storing or selling an unmanageable

amount of products

i would also recommend that you don’t

lead with this question okay don’t lead

with

what are your moq’s because this is a

tell-tale sign of an amateur

what are the lead times find out how

long it will take to produce

and to ship your items this is important

because you don’t want to work with a

manufacturer that’s going to take

three months to produce and ship your

products that’s because

long lead times leads to unhappy

customers people don’t want to have to

wait for their order

and they don’t want to have to wait for

products to restock how much does it

cost to ship your items

so if you’re ordering from wholesale watches china, https://b2b.eleoem.com/, for

example manufacturers that are closer to

the coast will have

less expensive shipping costs for most

shipping makes up a large portion of a

businesses

expenses so you want to know this right

off the bat so that you can be clear on

how it might affect your bottom line and

how it will affect the cost of your

product

number five is what is the cost per unit

so as you’re negotiating the minimum

order quantities you also want to

simultaneously negotiate the cost per

unit

remember that the larger the order the

lower the unit cost will be

next can they grant you exclusivity if

there’s tooling involved and you pay for

that tooling

be sure that they aren’t allowing other

clients to use the equipment that you’ve

paid for

other forms of exclusivity include

territorial market

and total exclusivity you should also

determine who owns the mold

and other equipment should you need to

switch manufacturers

are there any setup fees involved if

you’re doing injection molding there

will often be a setup fee so you want to

make sure that you’re asking this up

front

what is their defect policy find out

what the terms are if you receive an

incorrect

or a defective shipment are you eating

the cost of replacing the shipment

or is the manufacturer accepting

responsibility who should pay for the

extra shipping and duties

you want to make sure that you’re

getting a general sense of this to start

and then once you get more detailed in

the contract you can hash these details

out

is a manufacturer sustainable and

ethical

find out about the factory working

conditions how old are the people

working there

do they get regular breaks what’s your

manufacturer’s policy on discrimination

in addition to your manufacturer being

socially ethical you also want to know

how they impact the environment

how do they manage waste do they safely

dispose of dirty water or are they just

dumping it back into the ocean

each industry will have a unique impact

on the environment

and humankind so make sure that you’re

doing your research and asking tons of

questions

the unfortunate truth is that large

manufacturers sometimes see working with

small businesses as a burden

because they’re so used to dealing with

large orders of thousands and thousands

of units

manufacturers see working with small

businesses as tedious

time consuming and a low return on time

investment

it’s important to keep that in mind so

that when you’re reaching out you’re not

discouraged when they turn you down

keep in mind that if you’re starting out

with a smaller project there will be

someone that’s going to want to work

with you

you just have to find them once you

collect your three quotes

choose the best fit obviously don’t use

the most expensive option

but also be cautious about going with

the cheapest quote

you get what you pay for so try going

with the middle option here

communicate your designs you’ve done

your research

you’ve found the manufacturer that you

want to engage with and now it’s time to

get into the nitty-gritty about your

design requirements

start by asking your manufacturer if

they can create your designs

these people are smart well-equipped

professionals that can often handle the

design of your products as well

communicate your ideas through sketches

written instructions

and reference photos if a manufacturer

has done something

similar to what you need you should also

be referencing those

in the case of the design aspect is

beyond their capabilities

you can visit fiverr.com or upwork to

find freelance professionals

search for industrial designers product

designers and

cad experts let them know that the

deliverable you require

is a 3d rendering of your product for my

packaging design

i went to a local 3d print shop and i

worked with the designer there

this was useful because he not only made

me the 3d file that i could send to my

manufacturer

but he also did a 3d print this made me

feel confident before going into

production because

i could see that the design and the

dimensions were correct so

you might want to consider doing this as

well order samples

before placing an order you’re going to

want to get your manufacturer to send

you samples

that way you can test the product before

going into full production

so there might be a bit of back and

forth on this but once the sample comes

out right

you’ll date and you’ll sign the sample i

recommend you keep two for you

and send two back to them do this so

that if they send you a batch and the

color or the size isn’t right

you can both refer to the approved

sample this is what’s called a control

sample

i made the mistake of not doing this

what happened with me

is that my manufacturer sent me a

shipment that wasn’t what i wanted

but it was still close enough the next

batch again was similar but now even

further away from our first approved

sample

by the time i got my fourth batch the

colors and the dimensions were

completely different from the approved

sample

and then before i knew it i was buying

green packaging instead of blue

what i should have done was issued a

product approval waiver

a waiver or conditional acceptance is an

email or a document

which communicates that there is a

discrepancy with the order that should

be fixed next time

but it’s still acceptable now it states

what’s wrong with the batch

and also notes that if there’s any

further deviation the order will not be

accepted

this is a record of acknowledgement that

the order wasn’t what you wanted

but it’s still usable negotiation

between the time that you get your

sample and place your final order

there’s time to negotiate the terms

here are some tips when it comes to

negotiation so first of all

have everything in writing having a

record and contract eliminates any room

for he said she said

secondly make sure you put yourself in

the other person’s shoes when

negotiating

this will ensure that the deal is fair

for both parties

the point of your relationship isn’t to

see how much you can squeeze out of your

partner

but rather how do you mutually benefit a

mutually beneficial business

relationship is a long-term healthy

choice

place your order the final step is to

place your order

so here are a couple of tips to make

sure that this goes smoothly

at the beginning you’re going to want to

do a 100 quality control inspection

what i mean by this is you’re going to

want to look at every single item that

they ship to you

to ensure that it meets your standards

after you know them for about a year

you can start relaxing the quality

control at that point you’re going to

pick out say

50 from each box and if they’re all good

then you accept the order

if there are one or two that are off

then you’re going to have to inspect the

whole thing

now if you have a huge order and there’s

a massive amount that are bad

you’re going to want to ship it back

entirely so not to waste your time

here’s my final piece of advice and it

might be the most important piece

when you’re starting out you might be

thinking to yourself i don’t really know

what i’m doing

should i be negotiating i’m confused i’m

unsure

but i want to tell you this you’re going

to make mistakes it’s not a question of

whether you will or won’t

it’s guaranteed that you will make

mistakes but the most important part is

that you enjoy

of course you want to keep your eyes

open and you want to perform as best as

you can but if we take a minute to enjoy

what it is that we’re actually involved

in and be present for the journey

we’ll find that the opportunities and

the success actually comes to us

if you thought that this video was

packed with tons of value make sure that

you’re giving it a thumbs up

that’s going to help our channel and the

community grow

thank you so much for watching i’m your

host michelle bally and i will see you

in the next one