How to Find a Manufacturer or Supplier for Your Product Idea
You can start your journey with confidence if you have a product idea. A good idea might boost the market and even make you the greatest. The number of internet stores and sales has expanded in recent years. These demand hikes are mainly for things that aren’t yet available or have just been released. Alternatively, things that never run out of demand will always be in short supply. The manufacturers or suppliers are the most important factor in this instance.
When you have a product idea, what you need to do is contact the manufacturers or suppliers. So which one should be preferred? Do manufacturers and suppliers do the same job? Should you prefer domestic companies or foreign companies? In our article, you will find answers to all your questions and take action with your product idea.
What are a Manufacturer and a Supplier?
Manufacturer and supplier are often considered synonymous. However, while the supplier can also be a manufacturer, some manufacturers do not want to be involved in the procurement phase. In short, the person who produces the product you want only produces it and can get help from the suppliers for the sales stage. We can divide the suppliers from which you can buy your products into groups as follows:
- Manufacturers who have already produced the product you want or can produce it at your request.
- Supplier or distributor who can take the product you want from the manufacturer and forward it to you
- A dropshipping company that has already procured products and can provide brands and products that are kept ready on request.
You can evaluate these three options at the product procurement stage. It is often beneficial to be in direct contact with the manufacturers for a special product idea. On the other hand, suppliers are more preferred in product supply.
What are the Advantages of Domestic Manufacturers and Suppliers?
When you start to think about a product, you should also determine whether you want a domestic or foreign supplier. Especially if you want the manufacturer to be domestic, you should do your research well and not be harmed. Especially in products such as fruits and vegetables, although people prefer domestic products more, this situation may vary. Because, if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, it is inevitable to incur losses. For example, although apples are generally grown in every country, they can be difficult to find depending on the type.
Let’s examine the advantages of choosing domestic manufacturers or suppliers:
- You know the product with higher quality standards.
- The assurance of getting paid because it is your home country and the process is fast.
- You can use the marketing advantages of producing domestically.
- You won’t have to wait long because shipping will be quicker.
- Direct communication opportunity with the manufacturer without language barriers.
As for the disadvantages, as we mentioned earlier, the diversity may be less. Moreover, the production cost of the product you want may be higher in your country.
What are the Advantages of Foreign Manufacturers and Suppliers?
When people think in terms of diversity, they usually choose to procure products from overseas suppliers or manufacturers. Since the production cost will be lower, the prices of the products will also be lower. For this reason, we can accept this situation as the biggest advantage. In addition, you can find all kinds of products thanks to the suppliers that collect the products of many different manufacturers in a single system. You can shop on sites that have a global system.
However, in addition to these advantages, we can list the disadvantages of foreign suppliers as follows:
- Generally, the low production quality is present.
- You may encounter negative results because you are not sure about the products.
- Since you do not have the opportunity to see the production site, you can be nervous.
- Differences in laws and documents between the two countries may lengthen your process.
- The shipping time may take longer as they are in two different countries.
- There may be difficulties in communication due to language and cultural differences.
It is a fact that these disadvantages exist in terms of foreign manufacturers or suppliers. But all of them should be considered as possibilities. There are many brands and sites that have proven their work globally. Researching and learning about them will make your job easier. So how do you know it’s a reliable supplier? How do you find the manufacturer or supplier that you will not have problems with?
What Steps Can You Follow to Find a Supplier?
Getting Advice
It is a useful process to seek advice from people who have experienced the product sourcing process. You can find out who they are having problems with and which brands are reliable. In this way, you can pre-qualify or increase your connections. Recommendations will not only enable you to find suppliers but also find connections that will help you develop your business.
Research
With the digitalizing world, the internet has become a part of daily life. In this process, one of your biggest helpers is search engines. You can research for companies that produce and supply the product you want in search engines by adding a country. Moreover, thanks to the satisfaction filtering systems in search engines, you can see the most preferred ones.
NAICS or SIC Codes
Of course, codes are one of the best ways to find your product suppliers. Generally, there are directories where the products and supply systems of each country can be viewed globally. The most well-known of these are SIC and NAICS codes. Each product and supplier has a code. Thanks to these codes, you can find out whether the supplier is registered and reliable. Then you should take a look at the comments about these suppliers and their preference rates.
Powerful Communication
Powerful communication is the most important key to this process. It is important to be able to find a product at a supplier. But you also have to obtain all kinds of information about the quality, cost, and transportation processes of that product. You should know how they behave or their policies in case of problems that are likely to occur. For this reason, regardless of the domestic or foreign supplier, you should determine all the questions in your mind and communicate.
Consequently, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of choosing a domestic or foreign supplier. Especially if you have an idea for a rare product, it may be easier and more profitable to do research while evaluating it. For example, you need to supply sesame oil. While this is a valuable product, it is also a rare item. There are usually few companies that can manufacture or supply this product for you. After making a list on this subject, you should contact them and learn how each step will take place.
If you deal with suppliers like Turkish Goods, you won’t have any problems. Turkish Goods, which is both versatile in communication and mastering the export and import processes, continues to be a shining name with its product variety.