Steps to Production Series -Establishing Production Run numbers
It is time to start production! The question now is how many units do you produce? In this blog, I will help you guide you towards your production run.
How do I know how much to produce is a huge question. There is really no way to know how much you will sell until you're actually selling. So I always lean towards being more conservative when it comes to first production runs. First, you will want to know what the minimums at the factory you haven chosen are. This might be the answer to how many you are producing. Is the minimum 100 units per style? Then you can produce 100 units per style.
Your marketing plan and budget come into play here. If you are working with a strong digital marketing company, they will help you determine the production number based on what their like clients have sold. But these companies are expensive and can cost thousands per month. However, if you have the funds and they can get you a return that is greater than your investment, it will be worth it.
If you are planning to grass roots your campaign I have seen many clients sell out on the first day but have seen more clients that have had to put in a ton of hustle to sell out. Don’t give up, you can do it! But if you do not have a large marketing budget it’s a better idea to stay on the safe side. You can always re-cut if you see a style selling out quickly. It is better to quickly re-cut than it is to sit on inventory for too long. Plus, how cool is it to sell out?
You will also want to take that customer profile into account when planning your production run. What size do you think would sell most to your customer base? Should you make more smalls than larges or vice versa? Again, the best you can do here is guess. I once had a client spend thousands on a marketing company to tell them who their customer is only to launch and see their customer was 20 years younger then expected and also smaller. Not to say the marketing team did anything wrong here, I mention this just to point out no matter what, you’re making your best guess. So do what you can, move forward and start selling! Be prepared to re-cut and produce quickly if needed and move forward!
Once you know how many units you are making, fill out a proper PO (purchase order) with all the style numbers, colors and sizes listed clearly, have your production marker created and order your supplies. Your production clock won’t start ticking until all the materials have hit the factory floor. So, don’t forget to order everything you need, including the labels so your factory can start and finish the production process without having to stop and wait for anything to be delivered. (they aren’t happy when this happens, they lose money and have to prep their line for someone else's production so yours will get pushed back).
I wish there was a magic wand I could use to tell my clients exactly how many units they are going to sell and what the perfect production number would be, but I don’t. However, neither does anyone else so make your best guess, create a small production, then double down on what worked and use what you’ve learned to create a more educated production run your next go at it. Then hustle!!! You got this!!
Excited to start your own line? Have a line you would like to scale?
At V.Mora Development and Consulting we help brands from around the world develop, create, and market their lines. We use our industry connections and insights to help guide our clients to success and our Production Management team helps with the day to day tasks needed to get your line to your customers.
Steps for the Product Development
Sourcing
Technical sketches
Pattern Making
Prototype making
Sample Making
Fittings
Digitizing and Grading
Marker Making
Manufacturing
For product development and consulting services, please email vmorainquiry@vmora.com
