Learn to Make a Product

Expert Consulting for Product Entrepreneurs

What Is A Design Brief? (And Why You Need One)

When communicating with potential partners, it’s important that you are explaining your product idea clearly. This may seem like an obvious statement, but the problem is often that many new makers think they are being clear, when in fact their description is too vague, too wordy, or incomplete.

A Design Brief solves this problem by providing a clear, concise overview of the product you want to make. This simple document – often created as shared doc in Google Drive or as a PDF of a Word document –  is used to confirm if a manufacturer can help you or not, as well as the associated time and cost of doing so.

As mentioned above, it can be difficult to properly communicate your vision without an industry-standard overview that includes both a clear visual of our product idea as well as basic details like size range, materials and the available colors).

Here is checklist to help you create your brief:

  • Product Name (working title is fine) and a one-line description (optional, recommended if your product is a new invention and needs explanation)
  • Reference image of the product concept (this could be a similar product by a competitor, a photo of a sample you’ve made, or a rough sketch)
  • A short list of materials. (Ex: braided leather, silver buckle, care label, hang tag)
  • Size Range (Ex: XS – XL)
  • Desired color/print options (Ex: “5-7 solid colors” or “3 custom prints, similar to this artwork)
  • Any sort of special instructions (Ex: “Prefer vegetable tanned leather, if available”) 

The entire brief should be no more than 1-2 pages. If you are making multiple products, it’s okay to create a multi-page brief and separate it into sections.

It’s best to create your Design Brief before you start reaching out to potential factories, and reference it in your initial inquiry. For example: “We’re launching a line of women’s belts, overviewed in this document”. (You would then share the doc or attach it to the email.) As a reminder, a Design Brief is an overview, not a comprehensive set of instructions to make your product! This will be supplied at a later date, once you choose your final partner.

Save the finished file somewhere handy and make sure it’s editable, as you’ll be sending a brief to potential suppliers each time you launch a new product in your business!

Four Tips For Checking Supplier References

This article originally appeared on our Forbes blog

Checking references is an important (and free!) part of the supplier vetting process. I’m surprised by how many makers either don’t request them or don’t follow through once they secure names. Further, it’s not enough to ask easy questions such as, “Do you recommend Company X?” as the goal of each conversation is to go beyond surface level information. When done properly, speaking with references should paint a fuller picture of what it would actually be like to work with a given supplier.

Here are four tips to optimize your reference checks and make more informed decisions as you source new partners.

1) Ask For More Than One Reference

Reputable suppliers should have multiple happy customers willing to endorse them. When requesting references, be clear that you’d like a few options, and let the supplier know that both past and present clients are okay. This may give them more range, as some clients in their roster will be off limits due to privacy clauses.

If a supplier refuses to provide references or will only send a single point of contact, this is usually a sign to proceed with caution.

2) Stick To Your Product Category

Speaking with references who have made products similar to yours is key. For example, if you on the hunt for a factory that specializes in structured outerwear, but the references you receive can only vouch for the supplier’s ability to produce casual knits, the intel is only so helpful. Seek confirmation that a partner is good at what you are making.

3) Create A Vetting Checklist

It always pays to be organized and methodical when vetting, especially when you’re in contact with multiple potential partners and need to collect and evaluate lots of data. Before setting up discussions with references, make a list of the questions you want each one to answer. You’ll also need somewhere to compile all of the information you receive, such as in a spreadsheet dedicated to your vetting efforts.

Here are some suggested points of inquiry:

  • Is the supplier responsive? How long do they typically take to reply to messages?
  • How long has the reference worked with the supplier?
  • Has pricing increased over time? If so, why?
  • Are deadlines usually met? If not, why?
  • If there has even been a quality issue with the factory, how was it remedied?
  • You’ll receive an extra layer of feedback if you ask questions by questions by phone since it’s possible to pick up on more nuanced forms of communication such as tone, hesitation, sarcasm, etc.

    4) Remember That No Supplier Is Perfect

    A factory doesn’t need to score 100% on price, quality, speed, responsiveness and everything else you’re looking for in order to be a worthy choice. As with any relationship, partnering with supplier requires compromises. The important thing is that you are clear-eyed about the potential trade-offs of working with one vendor over another.

    For example, if you hear repeatedly that a factory has great quality but needs to be nudged a bit to finish orders on time, you can enter the partnership knowing you’ll need to build in delivery buffers. Preparation can help eliminate unwanted surprises and offset a vendor’s weak spots. This is not to say you should ignore negative feedback, but rather a reminder that no business is perfect.

    References are likely to say positive things about a supplier, or else they wouldn’t have been chosen in the first place. By starting each conversation with the reminder that you aren’t seeking perfection but rather a solid, reliable partner, you’re more likely to receive authentic feedback.

Three Ways To Lower Your Manufacturing Costs

This article originally appeared on our Forbes blog

When you factor in the cost of labor, raw materials, packaging, shipping and quality control, manufacturing a physical product is often more expensive than anticipated. Especially if you’re producing domestically or in small quantities, as many new makers do. While the quickest and easiest way to reduce per unit costs is usually to increase production volumes, not everyone has the budget to scale up. Here we discuss three ways to trim expenses without having to up your order quantities.

Tweak Your Design

It’s natural to get attached to your original product design (they’re called “idea babies” for a reason!), but the design decisions you make while initially developing your product are not necessarily the best in the long-term. For example, you may have chosen a material without fully understanding the cost implications, or opted for a customization during manufacturing that requires higher minimums than you can regularly afford to meet. By selecting different raw materials and components, changing the way your product is constructed, or even eliminating a few bells and whistles, you can reduce costs and increase profit margins.

The best sources of advice on making a product more cost-efficient are your supply partners. Reach out to your main assembly factory and ask them to explain the most labor-intensive aspects of your design. Find out if any of your material sources could be replaced by something less expensive without compromising the item’s integrity. Put their knowledge to use!

Take, for example, my client who has a line of pet clothing. After seeking advice from her factory, she reduced her costs by 5%. All she had to do was choose a less slippery fabric! It seemed her originally selected material was proving difficult to manage on the shop’s cutting machines, requiring more time and oversight, and a higher than average defect rate (meaning, perfectly good fabric was getting thrown away). Until she reached out to the factory, the designer was completely unaware of this issue. You may wonder why a factory partner wouldn’t offer up this useful information to begin with. Though some certainly will, others assume you’ve done your due diligence and research and want them to adhere to your exact specifications. In short, they won’t interfere with design instructions unless asked.

Remove Packaging

Are you mostly selling your products online? If so, removing excess packaging is a simple way to bring down overall costs. The purpose of packaging is to inform and motivate a sale, which, in an ecommerce setting, is accomplished by the marketing copy and great photography on your sales page. Anything the customer sees after receiving their order (such as packaging) is extra!

True, nice packaging adds to the overall perceived value of your brand; however, you can communicate value in other ways. For example, some makers remove all packaging on the product itself and focus on branding their exterior mailers and boxes with a catchy tagline and brand logo. This eliminates the labor cost of affixing packaging solutions to individual SKU’s (such as hang tags, cardboard sleeves etc); boxes and mailers have to be packed regardless, so adding a logo does not increase handling fees.

Remember, it’s okay to use different packaging for your ecommerce inventory versus items that will be physically displayed on store shelves. This may require a little extra logistical configuration, such as having your factory label separate boxes of inventory (one with retail packaging, one without), but in the long-run, it will reduce costs.

Negotiate with Suppliers

Asking your factory point blank to reduce their prices is usually effective only if you have information to back up the request. Before attempting any negotiation, make sure to secure a handful of reference quotes from similar suppliers. This will tell you where your current supplier falls within the overall ‘pricing landscape’ and what type of reduction (if any) it would be realistic to request.

For example, let’s say you’re an entrepreneur making painted wooden photo frames. You would price out your exact design (at the same order quantities you produce with your existing partner) with three other factories. If two of the quotes come back 10%- 15% lower than your existing factory’s pricing, you now have a specific range to shoot for with your current partner. It’s much more powerful to enter into negotiations with a realistic target, supported by competitive research, than it is to make a weak, open-ended request.

It’s okay to share the quote numbers you receive from other suppliers to strengthen your negotiation, but for privacy’s sake, don’t share vendor names and contact info.

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