Finding a Manufacturer
I wasn’t quite sure where to start this blog off so I thought I’d go with one of the questions I get asked the most – how do you find a manufacturer? I can only tell you how I do it although there will be many other ways to accomplish this! Please remember I am self taught along the way and so probably my way of doing things may be unconventional but I find it works for me. (Could I also say that the reason I do not manufacture within the UK is not because of price but because I have never found anywhere to make my goods here and those that have come remotely close as an option have never shown any interest towards me or the company- the last company I contacted told me that they would only meet with those they want to work with, so I couldn’t even get a meeting with them to discuss ideas.)
To begin with, before any samples, clothing etc it was suggested to me that I tried a site called Alibaba. Many of you will have heard of this website. For someone who has absolutely no links to any manufacturing its not a bad place to start. But, it is a minefield. When I first starting I searched through lots and I ended up contacting a manufacturer that were offering similar garments to what I wanted to make plus they advertised lower moqs (minimum order quantities) as this was my first thought – I can’t buy hundreds of each colour way! I had a design that I had created on photoshop which I sent to them. Now this was luck – they interpreted my design pretty much exactly as I had hoped (bar the sizing). In fact the half zip now, five years on, is still based on this very original design. I went back and forward with this supplier for a few months creating different samples, and testing out sizes until I eventually placed an initial order with them. Again by luck, the whole bulk order was absolutely immaculate and fault free!!
When you are looking for a supplier initially, especially on alibaba, be aware that many are trading companies and not the actual manufacturer. There isn’t anything wrong with this, infact it’s sometimes not a bad thing as they can often act on your behalf with regards to getting your design right and assessing quality. But some do profess to be the manufacturer! This is a bit confusing and its not always obvious what they are but in my experience if you end up working with someone who delivers good product at a price you are happy with, and they’re making a cut out of as a bit of middle man then wheres the harm? And if you get on and trust each other the chances are they will help you out more than you will realise. I have experience of both of this. One factory I work directly with and the others I go via a girl called Sandy, who is now my good friend. (I met Sandy when I first went to China).
So maybe getting back on point, perhaps the best way for me to show how I would source a product would be to take an example product. Say water bottles.
Firstly I would search online for the product I am interested in sourcing.
