Back in the late eighties my business partner at the time, and I, decided to launch a product based on her designs. We soon discovered though that outsourcing production could be a tricky move. Poor quality, late delivery and other issues had us re-examining our options:

Option 1) Find another company to make them. However the design specs were precise and we were picky.

Option 2) Make them ourselves. However that would have meant a serious cash outlay for not just the equipment, but also the ongoing expense of renting and maintaining a facility.

The idea of plunking out a bunch of cash (that we didn’t actually have) as well as ongoing rent for a facility made us both nervous. The product line was an experimental, and we both preferred to have more orders to back us up. Plus we both had enough experience to know that banks wanted nothing to do with a tiny upstart graphics firm, looking for a few thousand dollars to try something new.

THIRD OPTION

Creative problem solving has always been, for me at least, like a real-life Rubik’s cube. I’m convinced that when you apply enough creativity to a problem you’ll usually find a third or fourth option.

I tapped my network, made a few calls and found another local manufacturer. However instead of approaching them about making our products, I asked for something else – time, space and use of their equipment. Explaining our situation I asked the owners, a father and son team, if they’d be willing to let us rent use of their facilities by the hour. We served a completely different market and I was willing to put that in writing. Having a legal firm in my family, I had some agreements drawn up which they reviewed and signed. Even paying standard price for the agreements would have cost a fraction of what the equipment would have.

BETTER-FITTING SOLUTION

Greg (the son) and Gus (the dad) became my new best friends. Greg particularly took me under his wing. First he trained me on how to properly use the equipment, for efficiency and safety sake. Of course he had a vested interest, such as not wanting me to get blood all over his workshop but he went further still. He taught me effective shortcuts, safer methods, and introduced me to his favorite vendors. I had been paying in advance for my main materials. His vendor had better pricing, delivered faster, and offered a better selection. Plus they gave me a line of credit! When we had more orders, we booked more hours, when business slowed so did our production expenses. The solution fit so much better than a heavy loan burden that would have been consistently expensive no matter what revenue was coming in or not.  Business grew and I ended up having a good year of mentored shop time with Greg and Gus.

When it came time to buy my own equipment I know which brands were best buys and had moved into a home with a space where I could locate my mini-manufacturing plant.

Yes the economy sucks right now.  Instead of whining that traditional methods of doing business don’t work, let’s look at ways we can apply creativity and our networks to find new solutions. After all, building a new economy takes new ideas.

CHALLENGE: Do you have a small business creative solution to share? A third option or stroke of bootstrapping brilliance that saved, made money or created value in some other way.

If you do, please post a comment or send me a summary (under 100 words) that outlines the idea.

~ Trish Truitt

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