So: you’ve done the hard work of launching a successful crowdfunding campaign, and now you have to find someone to manufacture the product.
In order to deliver promised rewards to your backers on time, finding a quality manufacturer becomes vitally important.
In this article, I want to give you some resources for finding a manufacturer that best meets your specific product needs, so that you can feel confident in the production stage of your dream project.
Let’s dig in!
Understand the Type of Manufacturing You Need
You’ll want to pair with a manufacturing company that has proven experience in producing products in the industry that you are serving.
There are six primary categories of the manufacturing industry:
- Clothing and Textiles
- Petroleum, Chemicals and Plastics
- Electronics, Computers, and Transportation
- Food production
- Metal manufacturing
- Wood, Leather and Paper
This can be a little bit tricky, as many innovative products may overlap in these categories.
While in a perfect world you would find a manufacturing company to assemble the entire product from start to finish, this might not always be the case.
You may be working with, for example, a clothing and metal manufacturing company. These companies are likely to produce separate elements of your product, with a third (or fourth) company bringing it all together through assembly.
Find Who Can Produce Your Prototype
You’ll need to ask yourself a couple of key questions upon designing your prototype:
- What materials will be required to make my product?
- How will it feel? How big will it be?
- What techniques and engineering will be required to manufacture this product?
Once you have answered these questions, you can set out to find someone that can produce the prototype.
The prototype is especially important because it sets the stage for the manufacturing to come. If you have to ship out the product to thousands of backers, the first one should be perfect—as all units will follow the prototype model.
Transparency is important during this stage. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the product, so that the engineers can go to work towards properly constructing a design.
The Right Manufacturing Location
While manufacturing your product in your home country is a common dream shared by many entrepreneurs, it can cost your business a lot of money in the early stages.
While the United States does rank second in the world in manufacturing, countries like China have a reputation for being able to produce large quantities of product at a cheaper rate.
Manufacturing has its benefits and drawbacks in every location. For example, labor costs are cheaper in China than the U.S, which will save you money.
On the other hand, you’ll have to consider shipping costs, taxes, and tariffs to import the product from overseas.
You should also consider specialization. Different areas of the world are equipped to produce different things. For example, much of our world’s clothing is manufactured in countries like Bangladesh, while much of the technological and electrical manufacturing takes place in China and the U.S.
Carefully Research Potential Matches
Once you’ve narrowed down how and where your product will be manufactured, you’ll want to carefully vet the company to learn:
- Where exactly they are located
- How their operations work
- Products they have produced in the past
- If you can build a communicative relationship with the company
I’ve assembled a killer list of great manufacturing companies that have been trusted to work with Kickstarter and other crowdfunding campaigns in the past to give you some ideas.
Most importantly, you’ll want to avoid the middleman. There are tons of companies out there that will charge you a fee to work with the manufacturer, which is totally unnecessary. You can work directly with the manufacturing company itself, which will save you money and foster healthy, open communication.
Consider Minimum Order Quantities
As a company that has used crowdfunding to raise money for your product, you’re likely going to face the issue of minimum order quantities.
Most likely, you aren’t going to be asking a manufacturer to produce tens or hundreds of thousands of units like a large company.
You want to start small. You want to avoid the worst case scenario: having a ton of extra units with no one willing to buy them. Additionally, you’re unlikely to have the funding to place a large quantity of orders up front.
On the other hand, the more units you order, the lower your price-per-unit will be.
Check out this article for a guide for negotiating minimum order quantities, so that you can be confident you are getting the right price and number of units for your growing business.
Field Quotes From Multiple Manufacturers
Keep it simple when you are approaching a potential manufacturing company for the first time.
You should give a brief description of yourself and your product without overbearing the company with details.
Some important information you will want to acquire:
- Minimum order quantity (usually negotiable)
- Sample pricing
- Production pricing
- Time it will take to complete the order
- How payments will be scheduled
Once you’ve got an understanding of these models, you’ll be better equipped to make a decision. Not only will you have the pricing and timing down, but you’ll also have an idea of what relationship feels most authentic.
Especially if you are a first timer when it comes to launching a crowdfunding campaign, manufacturing a simpler product is a safe play. Once you have found your footing in the industry, you can seek to take on larger, more complicated projects that require intensive manufacturing.
Seek Help From Experts
The manufacturing stage of your crowdfunding campaign is a complicated process.
You shouldn’t take it all upon yourself to figure it out.
Reading this article is a great launching point. You’ve already begun the research process to get a more thorough understanding of what it will take to get your product out there.
Check out this list of crowdfunding experts to learn from. Most of them are available to go consult with you, and would be happy to assist you in the manufacturing stage.
You can also book a free coaching call with me—I’ve worked on a ton of successful Kickstarter campaigns, and would love to help you out.
Also, you should subscribe to my Youtube Channel and visit my Podcast. Through those mediums, I’m always chugging out killer content for tips and advice, as well as talking with people who have had success in the industry.
I hope the resources in this article have proven helpful. Got questions? Leave a comment below! I’d love to hear from you.
