What Questions to Ask Before You Start Manufacturing Your Product

“I have this great idea for a product, how do I find someone to manufacture it?”

This is the number one question I get from new business owners. Four manufacturers and thousands of dollars in costly mistakes later, and I can finally say I feel comfortable sharing an answer.

A little background my name is Jamie Bird and when I developed my product, Wet Happened? wet bag demand far surpassed how many I could sew on my own. I thought I might eventually like to sleep again; so finding someone to manufacture the wet bags was my 6-month goal. Little did I realize, it would take two full years to find “the one”.

Trying to stay out of debt, I could only afford small quantity manufacturing runs at first. Because I had so many styles, over 20, I could not afford more than 50-75 of each style. Very few sewing contractors would quote me a price for that quantity. I finally found someone out of California, but I did not know the first thing about what went into cutting and sewing in volume. Little hints that raised red flags- 10% in damaged goods, smaller yields, longer lead times- were explained away as the difference between manufacturing in volume and sewing out of my basement. Looking back, I believe she knew I was inexperienced and ripe for being taken advantage of. I won’t go into all the details, just the highlights: bolts of stolen fabric, incredibly small yields, goods arriving three months after they were promised, having to hire a lawyer to release $10,000 worth of raw materials back to me.

I am not alone. I often hear stories of fellow designers running an entire production and receiving the product, only to find none of it sellable. I wish I could tell you this never happens, that my case was an anomaly. Finding a reliable manufacturer has been the biggest challenge I’ve faced, and one that many others have had a problem with as well.

Following are a few questions to think about when researching a sewing contractor/manufacturer:

1. Price per piece. One contractor quoted me $13.24 to sew the Wet Happened? bag. I can sew one in less than 15 minutes. It retails for $17.95. Obviously price is one of the first things to be discussed, but not the only important question to ask.

2. What is included in the price? Two new projects I am working on have required patterns and multiple prototypes. Some manufacturers do not include cutting or thread. It is necessary to know the TOTAL cost per piece, with each element included.

3. What is their average lead-time? If you are thinking 2 weeks, and they cannot fit you into production until November, that’s an issue.

4. What is their loss percentage and how do they rectify un-sellable goods? Do they issue a credit; do they need to be sent back for fixing? Will they pay the return shipping?

5. How is payment expected? Do they want 50% down and 50% when goods arrive, the entire balance before they ship, 30 days?

6. How many days do you get to sort through merchandise to make sure it is sellable?

7. Is there any way to get price breaks for larger manufacturing runs?

8. How many pieces can they produce each week? If you need 2000 pieces, and they only have one part-time seamstress…it will be a problem. I also like to ask what types of sewing machines they use, since some garment seams are serged. You would assume that all seamstresses utilize a serger, but that is not the case.

Once you have done a test run, finding out yields and total cost per piece is the next step towards bring your idea to market.

Even though it can be tough to find a manufacturer, being prepared and asking the right questions could prevent a bad working relationship and lost revenue down the road.

Jamie Bird is the creator of Mini Me BabyGear, LLC, and Wet Happened? Designer Wet Bags.