Like forming any new relationship, figuring out what company is going to manufacture your new product can fill you with enthusiasm and make you feel you’re close enough to your market debut that you can taste it.
But hold on: There’s a lot of work to be done once you identify your manufacturing supplier . And if you have hooked up with a company that has experience, savvy, and integrity, and you do things right, your manufacturer can be a great bonus to your own thinking in areas ranging from product-design improvements to line extensions for your brand.
Here are three guideposts for getting the most out of this crucial relationship:
- Have a handle on your intellectual property
- Enter with high expectations.
- Don’t expect a turnkey solution
Have a handle on your intellectual property
Before you meet with manufacturers, you need to make sure that they will be able to understand your actual product and its design. It’s vital to helping them figure out whether they can build it for you and how much it will cost them to do so. The more complex your product, the greater the chances are that you’ll actually have to pay someone to make engineering drawings for manufacturers.
At the same time, you’ve also got to make sure that you’ve legally protected your design as much as possible through a patent or at least a trademark . Also, submit a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to each manufacturer that is a serious possibility and to whom you’re going to submit the detail.
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