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You’re in the business of making and selling clothes to people. It’s a common business niche, yet with so many ways to make clothing – and so many styles to create – it will always remain profitable. Nevertheless, you’ll run into an issue the moment you craft your business plan. You’re analyzing the best way to handle the manufacturing side of things and are thinking about outsourcing.
Is this a good idea? These pros and cons will help you figure everything out:
Pro: Saves a fortune for your company
Paying another business to manufacture your clothes will save a huge amount of money. Think about how much it costs to make things from scratch. You’ll need the following:
- All the right manufacturing equipment & materials
- A place to manufacture your goods
- Staff to help
This can dramatically raise your business overheads to the point where you can’t handle them. It also narrows your profit margins as you’re spending more money making your products – not to mention how this can impact your pricing strategy. Outsourcing is simply the most cost-effective solution and this point alone could be enough to convince you of its benefits.
Con: You put a lot of faith in someone else
When you outsource, you rely on the manufacturing company – or companies – to be on their best behavior. You trust them to continue operating ethically and paying their workers fair wages. If they do things that go outside the law or generate negative press, it reflects badly on your business as a partner.
People could boycott you because you’re working with a manufacturer that provides unethical working conditions. It’s not just this, what if they express particularly dangerous political views to the world? It puts you in a bad position by association, so you have to choose your partners wisely.
Pro: Utilize the expertise of others
A huge benefit of outsourcing is the ability to rely on the expertise of others. Some clothing items are notoriously difficult to make to a very high standard, like denim jeans. Do you understand the technical expertise that goes into making quality jeans? Probably not, but a manufacturer like Trends Jeans will, and you can use their expertise and experience to produce better items for your customers.
Think of it this way; do you want to make clothes for people that might not be the highest quality possible, or do you want them to be the best clothes money can buy? People will return if your items are crafted by professionals, which is another feather in the cap of outsourcing.
Con: A lack of control over things
Yes, you do lose control over the manufacturing process when you outsource. You do not influence how productive your partners will be or when they can make things. There’s also nothing you can do by way of quality control and consistency – you’re not in the manufacturing plant, so you can’t check things over.
You must be willing to hand the reigns over to someone else and trust them to maintain the highest quality and consistency possible. It can be conceived as a risk, but it revolves around your decision-making process.
Following on from that thought, we’ll conclude by saying the pros and cons of outsourced manufacturing are diverse. In the end, the pros are usually enough to outweigh the cons – but it largely depends on who you work with. Take a long time to source partners you have full faith in, rather than opting for the first and cheapest clothes manufacturer you find.
