Comments on: Successful Entrepreneur Guide – The Importance of Taking Preorders

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:50:51 +0000

Hello,
I am a total novice, and I have been working on potentially setting something up, where I would have items manufactured in China (quilts) – and on the issue you mentioned above, was wondering whether there is such a possibility as on-demand supply?
Thank you for your input, and great site with great info, thank you for sharing
Jessica

By: Joshua

Joshua — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:04:11 +0000

Hey Brian,

Nice post…very helpful. I’m in the start-up phase of my product (it’s a miracle bodybuffer), and have an opportunity coming up here on Black Friday to be in the largest electronics store in Chicago. I’ve produced about 200 units of my product and lined up good people. I feel that if I capitalize on this to the best of my ability, I can end up selling out my first demo day. Still, I’ve never done anything like this and wondering if you have any advice, or ways to create a huge hype around the event.

The store is placing a sign by the main entrance (but I have to tell them what I want it to say), and hooking up balloons and a sign by my demo area. Wondering what should be on the signs???

Thanks in advance!
-Joshua

By: John Cormier

John Cormier — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:09:45 +0000

I am an artist. really bad at marketing myself….

I do like the hat…. can I get one?? How to do it??

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:41:10 +0000

Thanks again Brian, and I’ll be looking forward to that ebook when it comes out.
-Adam

By: admin

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:38:43 +0000

@Usman, thanks for the comment – I checked out your article – good pointers.

@Adam – I try to get as many samples as possible, but what I normally shoot for is 3 of each product. I use the extra samples to do exactly what you said – to show them at shows. I also send some of the samples to sales reps so that they can use them to show to customers. Check out this article I wrote for more details on sample sourcing: http://tinyurl.com/bb59lj As far as the process of shipping my products goes, yes, it will all be covered in the ebook — but just to explain it very briefly here, I have used any service from UPS and DHL to Chinese shipping companies. If I need the product quick it has to be sent by air – and if it is a large air shipment it can be sent via a discount shipping company (a lot cheaper than say DHL, UPS, or FedEx). If I don’t need the product right away and can wait a month or more, I put it on a boat and send it by sea. A forwarding company can take care of all the details in regards to shipping the product. Oh and yes, the manufacturer will pay for it to get to the port and then you will pay for it to get the rest of the way. When the product arrives at my port in the US, the forwarding company I hire clears it through customs and delivers it to wherever I need it. I don’t ship the product straight to the retailer because I need to go through the shipment and package the retailers purchase with what they ordered, and also with any other displays or signs they need. Then I just UPS the product to the retailer — and the retailer pays for the UPS shipping cost.
Don’t worry about asking so many questions..I think it is great that you are trying to learn as much as you can, and you found the right website to come to, and the right person to ask – I don’t have all the answers, but I will always try to help. I hope you get a chance to read the ebook when it comes out (maybe in March).
Cheers,
Brian

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:29:15 +0000

Good article Brian. How many samples of each item do you typically order? I’m guessing you want to have a decent amount so that at trade shows you can create the illusion that you are fully stocked.
I really like how that with pre-orders, you can purchase samples, which probably do not cost very much, and then see which of those samples is most popular. That way you put very little investment into finding what your big ticket items are.
I have some questions relating to the whole process of getting your product shipped from overseas to your storage unit to the retailer. I saw that you mentioned you are writing an ebook on this process, so do not feel like you need to go into full detail right now if you do not want to. First off, what shipping service do you use to get your products from the manufacturer to you? I have been trying to research about this and it seems like the manufacturer in most cases pays to get the product to the port, and then you have to pay for the rest of the shipping. When the product arrives at your destination port, lets say Philadelphia, do you have to go pick up the product yourself or does the product get shipped to you? Or do you have the product shipped straight to the retailer? And if you get the product shipped to you, do you just UPS the product to the retailer, and who picks up that shipping cost? Sorry for asking so many questions, I am just trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks again!!!
-Adam

By: Usman Sheikh

Usman Sheikh — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:46:11 +0000

Hey Brian,

Interesting post. I was consulting a small business last year that was suffering from inventory issues and pre-orders was one of the solutions. The tricky part will come when you will want to scale your business to the next level and hold larger levels of inventory, to meet increased demand and sales. This is when cash flow management and other complications come into play.

I wrote a post on inventory management last year that may be of some interest to you as far as how you want to deal with scaling your business and at the same time keeping tighter controls over your inventory. Hope it could be of some assistance to you.

http://www.usmansheikh.com/strategy/5-steps-to-better-inventory-management

Regards

Usman