7 tips to help you find a suitable sportswear manufacturer for startups
When it comes to this topic, I believe you may have read many related articles, but you might still be a bit confused and not sure how to start. In fact, we often make simple things complicated. Instead of writing articles for SEO purposes, we should aim for simplicity and clarity.
Looking for suppliers is a process of selection. Through filtering criteria, you eventually identify multiple potential suppliers and then determine the ones you can collaborate with through communication, the whole process is like a funnel.
1. Where to Find Suppliers?
Consider whether the clothing manufacturing industry is mature in the country. Look at the number of years of development, the maturity of the supply chain, the expertise of the workers, and whether they have a history of exports. Mature industries generally offer stable quality and transparent pricing, with timely deliveries. In contrast, in less mature industries or countries, price and quality disparities can be significant, and efficiency may vary greatly, leading to potential challenges down the road.
2. Match the Right Fit
Once you’ve chosen a country, move on to selecting a factory. First, clarify your niche within the clothing sector. If you look for sportswear, Then, search for a factory specializing in that sportswear manufacturer. Second, assess your current and future production volume to find a factory of an appropriate scale. A well-matched supply chain is crucial. Large clothing factories typically have high minimum order quantities (MOQs), and if your volume is small, even if they agree to work with you, your order may be scheduled last, leading to long lead times. So, finding a factory that matches your needs in terms of scale is essential.
How do you determine what’s suitable? For example, if your annual sales are only $10 million, it’s not suitable to work with a factory that employs 1,000 people. They won’t prioritize your orders. Here’s a formula to consider: Order Quantity/10 = Factory Size. For instance, if your average order quantity is 300 pieces, a factory with around 30 workers is the most suitable. A factory with 10 or 100 workers would be unsuitable.
3. Communication Skills
Once you find a factory, the first step is to communicate with their sales representatives. Discuss their understanding of your design plans, get some input on the product development process, such as product specifications, fabric selection, logo techniques, and packaging suggestions. Ensure they have the necessary expertise to improve overall efficiency and meet delivery timelines, helping you bring your products to market.
4. Pricing
Pricing is crucial. It should fit within your budget. If it exceeds your budget, continue negotiating or consider looking for another supplier. If you’ve negotiated with many suppliers and still can’t reach the desired price, reassess whether your price expectations are reasonable.
5. MOQ and Shipping Costs
Evaluate whether the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) is acceptable and whether the shipping methods and costs are feasible for your business.
6. Customization
If you don’t have product designs ready, you might need the factory’s assistance in designing them. Check if the factory has design capabilities and whether the design costs are acceptable.
These key points are relevant when sourcing clothing. But what if you need to source products from various categories?
The final important question is how to find a professional procurement team that can handle sourcing products across different categories. You can’t do it all by yourself – finding suppliers, inspecting them, and negotiating one by one is a massive and time-consuming task. If you don’t have a team, doing it alone isn’t realistic. So, choosing our all-in-one procurement service can completely solve this problem at a reasonable cost. Why not take advantage of it?