If sourcing is an industry you’ve put and eye on and that you are interested to dig in, but you don’t know where to start… Well, first thing first: Find a reliable manufacturer that’ll deliver. [Click on link to learn the basics].
If you’ve already read our blog post on finding a reliable manufacturer overseas, then you are in the right place. Once you’ve selected a list of factories abroad that inspires you trust and that interests you in making business with them, your next step is to: QUALIFY them. This is not an easy task and it will have a tremendous effect on your investment, in fact, according to source: “Thoroughly qualifying the factories you encounter is one of the most important skills you can develop when sourcing your products overseas”. Unfortunately, it is really common to find people leaning toward a wrong decision due to some factories’ appealing offers and false promises, rather than selecting a pricier factory with better product quality.
Our advice to you is to do your diligence and be patient.
Find with an online qualification of the factories you’ve selected so far, then tap into business databases and compare your top companies. Be aware to compare their pricing, terms, quality and production timelines. Keep in mind that the sourcing process may take months to complete, focus in factories you see you can easily get ahold of and that provides easy access to information.
Once you’ve completed your research and feel confident about your factory selection, it’s time to go to China! Investors usually hire companies like Alpha Sourcing to handle all the sourcing process or to go overseas on their behalf and bring back home a factory audit. After examining these documents, you can start a partnership with your best option; let them know you have other options on the table, and do what you do best, negotiate.