Carolyn Keating Product Strategy & Consulting -30 Manufacturing Resources for Product Based Businesses

Raise your hand if the secrecy that surrounds sourcing for your product based business frustrates the crap out of you?!

As if pricing wasn’t hard enough, finding a reliable and good manufacturer is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You spend hours on your computer researching to find reliable resources to partner with. You meet some manufacturers who seem amazing until you receive their pricing while others are just a hot mess. You know the answer is out there because you see other small businesses with similar products making it happen. Some days, it seems like everyone figured it out but you.

manufacturing resources for your products

Here’s the thing, there is a MAJOR amount of secrecy surrounding sourcing. It’s very rare to find someone who is open to sharing their experiences. More often than not, when a product based business finally finds the perfect manufacturer they tend to keep that information all to themselves. It’s like Charlie finally finding his golden ticket. My question is, why? What do you have to lose by helping someone out?

I believe a lot of this secrecy is rooted in fear. A mentality of “If I share what I’ve learned and allow new company X to skip a few steps they’ll be more successful than me”

I was really lucky, during my career I had an entire team dedicated to working with manufacturers and sourcing products. It made my life SO.MUCH.EASIER. So, in an effort to make your lives a little easier I’ve rounded up a list of resources for you to check out! While I haven’t worked with many of them personally I’ve heard great things from others.

If you have an awesome resource that isn’t included below please shoot me a note so I can include them in a future post! Let’s lift the veil and help others who are in your shoes. There’s room for everyone in the marketplace. :)

P.S-->EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT!!

I'm going to be teaming up with some pretty remarkable ladies in the coming weeks to help make running your product based biz a whole lot easier. Want to be one of the first people invited to the party? Sign up here to get on the list!

CUSTOM PACKAGING

CORPORATE STATIONERY (BUSINESS CARDS, MAILERS + SUCH)

SOCIAL STATIONERY (CARDS, WALL ART, INVITATIONS ETC)

ENTERTAIN (NAPKINS, COASTERS, CUPS ETC)

GIFTS + HOME DECOR

GIFT WRAP

NOTEBOOKS+ JOURNALS

Carolyn Keating