There’s no shortage of plants and agents on the planet who can help you get your product manufactured. Due to the sheer number, it becomes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. However, making sure you’re working with the right company is critical to success. The reason?

The success scale can tip either way, which is something I discovered when I was starting. Sure, price is a huge factor in your success. However, some consequences come with that price that you should avoid, like the plague. When the item you’re producing has received approval and shipping date, and you’ve paid the upfront manufacturing costs, more times than not, some unexpected, out-of-nowhere delay can happen. These types of delays are especially true if it is your first time working with the firm.

You will get a million excuses from the producer, from the lack of raw materials to delayed material supply to machine breakdown and so on. What they promised will take 60 days is now taking a year because of one delay after another. Meanwhile, your business is haemorrhaging money because it is taking too much time to complete an order.

It would be ideal if you avoided untrusty manufacturers as well. One time, we managed to build and sustain an amicable business relationship with a massive manufacturing plant. We had completed a large order of filters for automobiles when the company’s director showed us another company’s recurring order and asked us if entering that market would be something we’d be interested in doing.

We were not about to enter a market we didn’t know, so we politely declined his offer. However, this encounter highlighted the downside of working with untrustworthy producers ruled by greed and short-sightedness – they have no loyalty in their bones.

This point is the most damaging. We have produced many custom products through the years, and there have been several instances where we’ve discovered alien suppliers selling our products in the same market as us. And the effects of this alien activity would adversely affect us.

Imagine all the time and money you invested in product design, evaluation and price negotiation. And when the product is approved, finalizing your order. Then, after six months, another person who trades in imports, which is an entirely different field from yours, has manufactured your product and is undermining your prices. Even worse, he’s approaching your customers directly.

Now it appears as if you’re committing daylight robbery in the eyes of potential customers. This alien importer is disrupting a market position you’ve worked so hard to obtain, forcing you to lower your prices so you can control the damage. Sadly, this sort of thing is commonplace, mainly when you fulfil your quota. The producer has your moulds, tooling and more, and they can easily hand them to someone else.

There’s a level of risk associated with every business endeavour – you can never be too certain. Try to take every conceivable precaution to reduce your risk. Sure, having a reliable and trustworthy manufacturer on your side with a good reputation can put your mind at ease. However, you can further minimize your risk by limiting the amount of information you give the producer, as this will secure your position.

For instance, you can conceal your product. Instead of calling it a cover, you can call it a container. And instead of manufacturing the entire product at one plant, you can spread the different production elements across several plants. You can get the final product assembled elsewhere as well. You can also conceal its purpose, target market and more. That way, you mitigate the risk posed by producers who don’t usually get recurring orders.