Another Reason Why We Get Customers First

Regardless of whether we proceed along plan A or B, in both instances we get customers first, for yet another reason, one I probably do not emphasize enough.  Keep in mind in both instances we are pursuing specialty store customers.

Premises:

1. Since, in the eyes of the best supplier in the world, the supplier we wish to work with, we are unknown, and have no track record and reputation, these very suppliers need some sort of indication we are not just flakes wasting their time.

2. Our customers expect us to be working with the best supplier in the world.

In plan A, we need customers' feedback to assist us in developing what we propose to sell.  As we gain this feedback, and get names and dates and suggestions, we eventually share this with the best supplier, which addresses premise one.  The only way the best supplier will get interested in working with you is if you propose to sell to USA customers a product they do not already make.  If you propose to sell to customers they already ultimately serve, that is fine with them, as long as it is not something they already make.  In fact, it is not uncommon that your product comes from the same factory your competitors use, going to the same retailers your competitors serve.  Shoes, chocolate and computers are just three examples where this is common.

In plan B, which is generally an "off the shelf" item, the best source in the world does not want to bother supplying someone who proposes to sell to customers they already reach.  If you propose only to lower the price to get customers, this strategy will fail, from the point of view of the best supplier, so your participation only means disruption of an otherwise orderly market.  Your lower price may very well make it difficult for the supplier to maintain his price to his regular customers.  If your customer is someone they do not reach, you have a chance, but you will ultimately need to redesign since you will be quickly outflanked on price for any off-the-shelf item you may vend. Small business ultimately thrives on design.

Who your customers are is a main factor in whether a supplier will work with you.  By getting this information first, and sharing it early, will either advance or stall your project.

If it stalls the project, then your tactic will be to redesign your product.

And to reiterate another point, it does not take much to be "new" enough to warrant assistance from the best supplier in the world.  Progress is a matter of small innovations.  In school we study Edison and Carnegie and Ford and expect that to be the path to success, without realizing the countless successes that are out there that no one has ever heard of, and the countless opportunities that are skipped over by people searching for the "next big thing."

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