Second Step: Finding a Manufacturer

       My trademark has been approved and I am all set to go! I wanted to wait until this was finalized because I did not want to go through with printing any labels or marketing materials only to have my trademark denied and having to go through everything all over again. It would be a huge waste of time and budget.
   
        So now that I have my brand trademarked, I am narrowing down a manufacturer and I am in between two; one in Bali and one in Miami. Both have major pros and cons but a huge bonus of Miami is the proximity! I could even drive there if I had to. Another bonus is that they work with start-ups and have lower M.O.Q (minimum order quantity). Also, according to polls many of my demographic likes products made in the US. A con is that it will end up being a tad bit more costly to manufacture in the US, thus making my pricing higher. The manufacturer in Bali is all inclusive of fabrics, whereas here I have to purchase separately and still pay for the pieces to be made. I am importing the fabric from Italy and it's a great eco-friendly fabric made from recycled fishing nets and plastic collected in the ocean. 
   
         Having said all this a HUGE hurdle I am trying to get over now is actually getting in contact with the right people. Receiving responses is like pulling teeth and it really makes you wonder how these 'professionals' became .. professional. I feel like this might be a bad month to be starting the sample process because mostly everyone in the industry is already underway with production orders for this spring. I also feel like not everyone is taking me seriously because I'm just a teeny little start-up business and statistically speaking the odds are against me.  It's already hard and scary enough to be starting a business with no investors or a large lump of cash to play with, but when people ignore you and draw the process out even longer its very disconcerting.  Really, I think it would help to get the ball rolling and jump in with both feet, don't look back because its too late kinda thing.  I am doing things to keep busy and trying not to lose focus, but its hard to feel motivated when the people you are depending on aren't responding to emails. Until I get the responses and questions answered I will work on technical drawings and picking hardware, accessories and trims.

If you have any advice or words of encouragement, don't hold back! You can also email me : monikasanguinetti@gmail.com



                                                                  Thanks for Reading!