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Module 1. Manufacturing manufacturing is where it all begins when it comes to your supply chain. This is how you get your goods produced. There are three models that are the most common for new e-commerce stores. First, you can choose to have it done by international manufacturer. You can have products made domestically within your country. You can do it yourself if you choose to do yourself.
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I’m going to assume you already know how you want to manufacture products. And so I won’t spend much time talking about this option during this course. We’ll spend more time talking about a manufacturer produced your goods for you. This means you’ll need to choose a supplier. There are many places you can look to find a supplier but these are the most common that I’ve found to be consistently convenient and reliable both domestically and internationally.
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If you’re searching for a supplier in the United States and want to meet face to face with potential manufacturers attend trade shows and conventions that correspond to your niche. It’s always nice to be able to meet your potential suppliers in person. If getting to a trade show or convention is not an option you can look online sites like makers WorldCom and ThomasNet.com/updates.
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Great for surgeons to lots of manufacturers at once and provide an easy way to make contact with them. Lastly just googling search for manufacturers and make your products and reach out to them through their web site. The same types of resources exist. If you’re looking for international vendors trade shows Alibaba source of five and Google.
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Once you find a manufacturer you’d like to work with. There are some things to keep in mind when it comes to buying product from your manufacturer. The quality of the products in terms of your deal are just as important as cost. Don’t just work with the manufacturer that offers you the cheapest cost per unit to determine the quality of the product your potential manufacturer will produce. Always request a sample.
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You usually have to pay for samples but it’s worth it to make sure the product is quality. Especially if you’re going to be paying for thousands of prices are negotiable. The plan to at least pay the retail price of the product plus shipping costs. However, you might even be able to get a sample for free if you ask nicely. One thing I like to do is to request multiple samples. That way I get a good look at multiple products
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and can even sell a few of them to recoup the costs of paying for the samples I ordered. It’s important to define the payment terms of the order upfront. Your manufacturer would love it if you paid the full amount of front but don’t do this to yourself at risk of losing your entire payment if the final production isn’t what you expected and you have no levers to withhold payment to make them fix it.
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Instead of paying in full it’s pretty standard to pay 50% down and 50% when they ship it to you. Once you establish a relationship with them you can even negotiate the terms more in your favor. For example, paying just 25% to 30% upfront and the rest when they ship all the product to you minimum order quantity terms or email queues are also negotiable. Many people think that these limits are set in stone
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and you must order the minimum. That’s not true. Manufacturers simply need to get orders large enough to make it worth their while so many times you can get them to lower there EMQQ if you promise them something else that benefits them. For example you promised them 75% upfront and promised them another order with him right after this one. If everything goes well or even you can promise to push out your delivery day longer.
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So they have more time to make your products. It’s not unheard of to get a manufacturer who has an email queue with 1,000 units or more to make 100 and 250 units for you on your first order. Lastly beware of potential fraud when you send money to a manufacturer you may never get your goods. That’s bad. Protect yourself as much as possible by paying
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through reputable sources. For example a wire transfer to your bank. You can also use a credit card that ensure your charges. So if your manufacturer doesn’t send you what you want or what you paid for you. You can follow fraud case or chargeback with your credit card and potentially get your money back. Lastly, the simplest payment solution I’ve found to use is paper. It’s quick and easy to setup.
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Manufacturers will accept it. And you can be reasonably sure that if you get cheated you still have options to recoup your investment. Quick story on a client who had developed a product that was incredibly high in demand and everyone wanted it. You couldn’t really buy it anywhere. So she knew if she could find a supplier it would be an immediate hit. So she went through the steps that we’ve discussed.
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She went ahead and got samples first. She negotiated down the ammo q paying only the down payment to a reputable source and paid the balance only after the product shipped. Fortunately it didn’t work out when the products arrived that had a critical flaw that made them completely worthless and she couldn’t use any of them. Luckily, she had paid through a reputable source
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and when she launched an investigation she was able to get 100% of her money back. Once you figured out how to get your product produced to quality standard it’s time to get it from your manufacturer to your warehouse. We call that inbound shipping and it’s a topic of our next module.
