Sourcing Your Product

If you want to source your product outside the US then you must make the committment to do the following.
1) Find a reliable agent who is located in country or has contacts on the ground in country.
2) Plan on going there you need to build trust
3) Plan on going there you need to see where your product is being made
4) PLAN ON GOING THERE you need to cut the time to get what you really want shortened
5) Insure your specifications leave nothing to the imagination.
6) Supply prototype made to the specifications
7) Get a domestic quote
8) Never-Never-Never say yes to anything but what you want
9) Understand what ALL the costs of getting the product from there to here are
10) Before you write a PO sell something.
11) All communication must be in writing even after phone calls
12) Remember even if they speak English you need to be sure they UNDERSTAND English
Follow these steps and you will stand a better chance of having a product you want and being able to be successful

So you want to be on QVC?

QVC is a great outlet for new products especially for those people with a one product line.
QVC unlike bricks and mortar retail is in the item business and therefore more prone to choose a one item prodcut line to present on air if they think it will sell.
The challenge for a new or small company is the fact this is a "consignment" sale with no guarantee of success except the fact QVC believed enough in the product to air it.
What will happen is the following.
The product will be presented to a buyer who will like the product.
The buyer will then negotiate a price if the original cost is too high for their projected sell and profiit margin requirements.
Then the product sample will be sent to their quality department for testing and evaluation.
If it passes all the tests including packaging then a purchase order will be issued.
The purchase order will ask for delivery based upon the lead time given for the product by the company and agreed to by the buyer.
Once a purchase order is received then product should begin and then delivery is made at the specified time.
Once the product is received the typical goal is to have it on air within 30 days however the timeframe could be longer and has been where I have been involved as much as six months later.
Once the product is on air QVC will pay for the product sold in about 60-75 days from the on air date. This will allow them to accomodate all the returns on the product and pay for what actually sold.
The balance of the inventory can be returned depending on the amount left over.
If all was successful then a second and potentially additional orders will be placed.

Going Global

The world is has become a smaller place and more important a more advanced place with more potential consumers of all types of products.
Twenty plus years ago when I first went to China you could see the beginning of what today seems commonplace.
When I returned I told my son to learn Chinese and they are going to be a force in the world.
We in the US and those in Europe helped the Chinese understand the meaning of a quality product and we took advantage of the inexpensive labor.
Now that inexpensive labor has become a little more expensive but a generation of entrepreneurs and workers are looking for products that are produced and developed in the US and elsewhere.
So if you have a product think of the huge potential customer base beyond our borders.
Making the product does not have to be in China, India, or any other emerging market.