Just food for thought. I'm not saying "Don't do it" only "tread with caution."
Do you speak Chinese? If so, you could facilitate the transaction yourself.
If not, mitigating communication problems alone are worth a small
fortune in my book.
I've outsourced manufacturing to china (via a middle man) for 3
separate products, a wood one, a plastic one and a metal one. Each
time it was a nightmare, and despite my best efforts, I had no
protection for my intellectual property... and for two of them, they
soon began producing their own versions (with slight modifications)
for their markets out of cheaper materials. One sold a knock off of my
client's product for 1/3 the price to folks who placed them U.S.
department stores at a price level where we couldn't compete. Walmart
wouldn't take a second look. They were already getting the product at
half of our manufacturing costs!
Coordination on the manufacturing alone was horrific. Details of the
tooling (aluminum versus steel) cutting (blade versus compound die)
molding (injection versus rim) ... resulted in constant debates that,
even with a translater, were tough. I can't imagine trying to do them
myself.
Also, manufacturing is only one element. Do you understand import
laws? How are you going to accept inventory shipment of your "toy"
from China? You realize, it's not like requesting air post. There
will be shipping port fees, import fees, actual shipping
charges(typically via boat or the price doubles) lots of red tape
paperwork ... lot's of stuff to handle on your own if you haven't
imported before.
You will also have to pay the bill in full before they will ship to
you. And if you want prototypes before then, the tooling fees are
typically equivalent to what you would pay for full-scale production,
meaning paying $50K for a $10 prototype. Ugh!
Bottom line: My suggestion would be to get some experience under your
belt before trying to do this yourself. Even with my three products
from China (plus one from Taiwan and another from the Philipines) I
wouldn't dream of trying to do it direct. It's a pain in the butt,
and I can use my time and talents on things that will help grow my
business or that provide me joy (versus endless headaches).
If you do decide to go with a middleman, however, do be careful that
they are not tied to one specific manufacturer. Sometimes rather than
importers they are manufacturing reps for one overseas house. Make
sure they can get your product into multiple facilities and provide
competitive quotes from at least 3. If they try to push one facility
above all others, or only present you with one, it may not be the best
deal.
Here's an alternative you may not have thought of... use a Chinese (or
other country) production facility that's got a U.S. company as one of
the owners. You can then communicate with the U.S. office, while
realizing cost savings of outsourcing... and they can typically
combine shipments across multiple products, lessening your shipping
burden and helping you get your product sooner and in better shape.
I assume since you are using PU you will be using injection molding.
If I'm right, depending on your volumes, you may find plenty of U.S.
manufacturers that can do this for you. PU can typically be handled by
a few guys in a garage. Seriously, the tooling cost will be more
expensive than the manufacturing.
OK... I'm off my soapbox now.
Regardless of what you decide, I wish you much success and prosperity.
Go for it!!! :-) Entrepreneurs are my very favorite people in the
world, and the guts-iest people I know. Kudos for you for making a
concept a reality!!!! |
