Decision Vision Episode 126: How Do I Choose a Manufacturer? – An Interview with Susan Dudas, My Day Screen
Inspired by her husband’s skin cancer diagnosis to create line of natural sunscreen products, Susan Dudas was confronted by the dilemma of how to choose a manufacturer for her products. Susan joined host Mike Blake to share what she’s learned from her experiences, including how to search for the right manufacturer, the types of questions to ask, managing the relationship, product liability, and much more. Decision Vision is presented by Brady Ware & Company.
Make2Give LLC dba My Day Screen
After her husband was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2018 and a search for natural, mineral sunscreen was unfulfilled, Founder Susan Dudas decided to create a mineral sunscreen brand that offers products she would want to wear daily. She launched the My Day Screen™ brand in October 2020.
My Day Screen™ offers natural, mineral sunscreen products that feel and look good on your skin. My Day Screen™ is defined by four pillars:
1. Plant-based, natural ingredients.
2. Holistic Light Protection – protection against UVA, UVB and Blue Light.
3. Eco-friendly packaging; and
4. Donation of $2 to nonprofits on every qualifying sale. My Day Screen™ products are sold online at www.mydayscreen.com and on Amazon.
Company website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Susan Dudas, Founder, Make2Give, LLC
For over 20 years, Susan Dudas has served as a business consultant to multinational companies in a variety of industries. Susan designed and facilitated organization effectiveness initiatives for her domestic and international clients. She’s also an entrepreneur, having co-founded and operated a mobility transportation company, co-founded two charter schools for low-income students, and founded the My Day Screen natural sunscreen brand.
Susan is also an avid volunteer and supporter of non-profit organizations that help foster care youth, homeless youth, and adoptive families. After her husband was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2018, and a search for natural mineral sunscreen was unfulfilled, Susan decided to create a mineral sunscreen brand that offers products she would want to wear daily. She launched the My Day Screen brand in October 2020. My Day Screen products are sold online at www.mydayscreen.com and on Amazon.
Mike Blake, Brady Ware & Company
Michael Blake is the host of the Decision Vision podcast series and a Director of Brady Ware & Company. Mike specializes in the valuation of intellectual property-driven firms, such as software firms, aerospace firms, and professional services firms, most frequently in the capacity as a transaction advisor, helping clients obtain great outcomes from complex transaction opportunities. He is also a specialist in the appraisal of intellectual properties as stand-alone assets, such as software, trade secrets, and patents.
Mike has been a full-time business appraiser for 13 years with public accounting firms, boutique business appraisal firms, and an owner of his own firm. Prior to that, he spent 8 years in venture capital and investment banking, including transactions in the U.S., Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
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Brady Ware & Company
Brady Ware & Company is a regional full-service accounting and advisory firm which helps businesses and entrepreneurs make visions a reality. Brady Ware services clients nationally from its offices in Alpharetta, GA; Columbus and Dayton, OH; and Richmond, IN. The firm is growth-minded, committed to the regions in which they operate, and most importantly, they make significant investments in their people and service offerings to meet the changing financial needs of those they are privileged to serve. The firm is dedicated to providing results that make a difference for its clients.
Decision Vision Podcast Series
Decision Vision is a podcast covering topics and issues facing small business owners and connecting them with solutions from leading experts. This series is presented by Brady Ware & Company. If you are a decision-maker for a small business, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at decisionvision@bradyware.com and make sure to listen to every Thursday to the Decision Vision podcast.
Past episodes of Decision Vision can be found at decisionvisionpodcast.com. Decision Vision is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.
Connect with Brady Ware & Company:
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TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:02] Welcome to Decision Vision, a podcast series focusing on critical business decisions. Brought to you by Brady Ware & Company. Brady Ware is a regional full service accounting and advisory firm that helps businesses and entrepreneurs make visions a reality.
Mike Blake: [00:00:22] Welcome to Decision Vision, a podcast giving you, the listener, clear vision to make great decisions. In each episode, we discuss the process of decision making on a different topic from the business owners’ or executives’ perspective. We aren’t necessarily telling you what to do, but we can put you in a position to make an informed decision on your own and understand when you might need help along the way.
Mike Blake: [00:00:42] My name is Mike Blake, and I’m your host for today’s program. I’m a director at Brady Ware & Company, a full service accounting firm based in Dayton, Ohio, with offices in Dayton; Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Indiana; and Alpharetta, Georgia. Brady Ware is sponsoring this podcast, which is being recorded in Atlanta per social distancing protocols. If you like to engage with me on social media with my Chart of the Day and other content, I’m on LinkedIn as myself and @unblakeable on Facebook, Twitter, Clubhouse, and Instagram. If you like this podcast, please subscribe on your favorite podcast aggregator and please consider leaving a review of the podcast as well.
Mike Blake: [00:01:16] So, today’s topic is, How do I choose a manufacturer? And I’m particularly excited about this topic for two reasons. Number one, I’m not a manufacturing guy. I don’t know anything about it. I’m a professional services guy, and most of my clients are in the tech space. And so, I do a little bit of work with manufacturing clients, but I’m certainly not going to sit here and try to be any kind of expert in it.
Mike Blake: [00:01:43] I’m also excited because this is an experiment or, I think, more likely the start of an evolution of the program. Throughout the first 125 episodes or so, our decision content has been positioned as a binary question, should I do X? Should I fire my client? Should I sue my partner? Should I have a business partner? Should I raise angel capital? And so, forth.
Mike Blake: [00:02:14] And with this topic, we’re going in a different direction because there’s another kind of choice that we really haven’t addressed and, I think, will be helpful to the listeners that we do address that in various cases, which is not a choice to act or not act, but rather a choice that is borne out of selection. Many decisions that we have to make as business people or executives are of a nature where it’s not that we’re deciding whether to do something or not. But we’re deciding, maybe, on the right way to do something or the right path, the right advisor, the right resource, the right company, the right model. All kinds of decisions which, again, are not binary. They’re simply choices.
Mike Blake: [00:02:59] And so, today’s topic is, How do I choose a manufacturer? Which would be sort of the maiden voyage of this new kind of topic. And I hope you’ll like it as much as I think that we’re all going to find enjoyable. And joining us today is Susan Dudas, who is founder of Make2Give LLC, which does business as My Day Screen.
Mike Blake: [00:03:20] For over 20 years, Susan Dudas has served as a business consultant to multinational companies in a variety of industries. Susan designed and facilitated organization effectiveness initiatives for her domestic and international clients. She’s also an entrepreneur, having co-founded and operated a mobility transportation company, co-founded two charter schools for low income students, and founded the My Day Screen natural sunscreen brand. Susan is also an avid volunteer and supporter of non-profit organizations that help foster care youth, homeless youth, and adoptive families.
Mike Blake: [00:03:53] After her husband was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2018, and a search for natural mineral sunscreen was unfulfilled, Susan decided to create a mineral sunscreen brand that offers products she would want to wear daily. She launched the My Day Screen brand in October 2020. My Day Screen products are sold online at www.mydayscreen.com and on Amazon. Susan, welcome to the program.
Susan Dudas: [00:04:18] Great to be here, Mike. Thanks a lot for having me.
Mike Blake: [00:04:21] So, My Day Screen, was that the first time that you ever had to select a manufacturing company?
Susan Dudas: [00:04:32] Actually, it was. It was. I was in manufacturing prior to this. I’ve also been involved in education and consulting. But this was really my first venture into having to seriously select a manufacturer.
Mike Blake: [00:04:48] And how much did your background consulted with manufacturers? Did that help you a lot? Or do you find that there’s a big difference of advising on the choice, maybe advising how to work with them versus actually making the choice yourself?
Susan Dudas: [00:05:03] It really did help me in the preparation. Early on in my career, I was an H.R. Manager in a production plant. It was a clean plant, circuit board design and assembly. So, I was aware of quality. I was aware of a lot of the compliance. So, there were a lot of things that were top of mind as I was going through this process. But that was a very different process than formulating and manufacturing mineral sunscreen. So, I would say it helped in terms of framing the kinds of questions that I needed to have and what I need to be aware of. But it didn’t prepare me for the world that I was entering.
Mike Blake: [00:05:43] So, I’m always interested in kind of the language of business because every industry, I think, has, if not their own language, certainly their own dialect. If you’re somebody like me that’s used to communicating with people like accountants or attorneys, is that different? Is the way that you communicate different from communicating with, say, manufacturers?
Susan Dudas: [00:06:06] It’s same in many ways. I mean, you’re talking about deliverables with service providers, you’re talking about your goals, what you want to accomplish. You’re going to have a contract. You’re going to have service agreements. You’re going to talk about that. You’re going to talk about compliance. But it’s different in many ways because, most likely, you’re talking about a finished product. You’re talking about a tangible product. You also are able to negotiate your terms with manufacturers, which maybe not so much so with service providers, the fixed fees. So, yeah, you’re definitely having different conversations about quality, about shipping, about the product design, different conversations.
Mike Blake: [00:06:50] So, once you decided that you need to define a manufacturer for My Day Screen, what was the first step? How did you find or identify potential candidates to become your manufacturer?
Susan Dudas: [00:07:02] I love this question because it’s my natural nature to prepare, and that served me well. Because, absolutely, the first step in any advice I would give to someone, maybe on the doorstep of this process, is to prepare. Because the more that you know going into these conversations while you’re looking for manufactures, the better you’re going to be positioned. Because if you think about it, they’re going to ask you questions. So, why not have those questions prepared ahead of time? It gives you an advantage.
Susan Dudas: [00:07:35] And for instance, the very first question that I learned I had to ask myself was, do I have a design? And in my case, it was a formulation, so I didn’t have a formulation. So, if the answer is yes to that, you’re going to go down one path. If the answer is no to that, you’re going to go down maybe a couple of different paths. So, I can elaborate on that if you like me to.
Mike Blake: [00:08:00] I want to come back to that part. But what I what I like to sort of stand for the segment and clarify, you know, is finding a list of potential manufacturing candidates as simple as doing a Google search? Or are there specific places that you went to sort of look to give yourself a leg up on the search?
Susan Dudas: [00:08:22] Sure. Sure. Obviously, I did the Google search and I Thomasnet, and that got me nowhere. I mean, it gave me names. But in my particular case, mineral sunscreen is a subset of the sunscreen market. So, I was looking for specific manufacturers that manufactured mineral sunscreen, and a lot of them don’t. And a lot of beauty manufacturers don’t even get into sunscreens because it’s an over-the-counter drug.
Susan Dudas: [00:08:51] So, where I found that I got the most mileage was to look within the industry, our industry of indie beauty, within the beauty community, and there’s directories within that. I also talked to people. Now, within the beauty industry, sunscreen included, we don’t talk about who we use as manufacturers. We hold our kids close, but we hold our manufacturer’s names closer. So, we just don’t discuss this. However, you can get enough information from your peers in this peer group – and I did – that was able to open some doors and at least get me started. And along the way, I was much more fruitful to talk within the industry than to just do a general online search.
Mike Blake: [00:09:36] So, that’s interesting. I’m going to go off the script a little bit, but I think that’s a really interesting observation I would not have expected. Why do you suppose that people keep the identity of their manufacturer such a secret? For example, I wouldn’t keep my CPA a secret. I wouldn’t keep my lawyer a secret. But I guess manufacturing is a different animal. So, why do you think that that’s such important and sensitive information that people are reluctant to reveal it?
Susan Dudas: [00:10:07] Well, I can’t speak across industries. But within the beauty industry, you don’t see patented formulations. We are over-the-counter drug, FDA regulated, we have to put all of our ingredients out there. So, we publish our ingredients list and it’s required, which is a wonderful thing, that transparency is beautiful. So, that takes some of the mystique away of what’s in this. I guess, you don’t see a lot of patents within the beauty industry. They might patent a process or a function within a formulation, but you’re not going to see that. So, you don’t have those protections there around. “Oh, what are they using?” Because we publish that.
Susan Dudas: [00:10:51] So, there are protections then about who’s going to make it. Because you’re going to see a lot of similarities and formulations, so who is making it? That might change up your raw materials. That might do things a little bit different. Process might be a little different. So, that’s the way I look at it, is, we’re an open book in terms of our ingredients. So, we do protect our manufacturers because we don’t want some pirating. We don’t want someone to necessarily mimic our formulation.
Mike Blake: [00:11:24] Interesting. So, the fact that you’re in an FDA regulated sector and the fact that your value proposition is using all natural mineral products, do those two features make it more difficult for you to find a manufacturer?
Susan Dudas: [00:11:45] Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Because a lot of people don’t want to touch OTC, over-the-counter. There’s a variety of costs involved. There’s testing. The facilities we look for are FDA regulated. We want to get current good manufacturing process certifications with our manufacturers. So, there’s a lot of hoops to jump through for manufacturers that manufacture over-the-counter products, over-the-counter drugs, and some of the beauty products. If you’re making eyelashes, you necessarily want to go through the pain of having to get the FDA auditing and regulating you on a regular basis.
Mike Blake: [00:12:30] And, you know, the natural part is kind of intriguing, too, because in a way – I’m probably totally off on this – I almost wonder if it’s like kosher rules. I wonder if a manufacturer kind of has to have a certain outlook or a certain culture, if you will, to properly apply manufacturing processes with all natural products or inputs as opposed to another manufacturer that really just doesn’t care. “Just give me the formulation and I’ll do it.” Am I making more of that than it is? Or does it take a special kind of manufacturer, a special kind of owner, and a plant manager to do that effectively and kind of stay true to what you want to accomplish?
Susan Dudas: [00:13:16] Yes. No, I think you’re right on point, Mike. Especially when you talk about organics, because there is a certification process with organics. So, when you have naturals, you have the organics. Now, natural, there’s not a certification process for naturals, but you do want to find a manufacturer or I want to find a manufacturer that embraces that. They understand it. And maybe from the sourcing standpoint, you want that manufacturer to source those raw materials that are totally aligned with your brand and where you’re taking it, and they are natural. And I was very, very careful about that.
Mike Blake: [00:13:58] Of course, we hold the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. We’re in this trans-pandemic phase right now. I don’t know if you’re still active in maybe finding alternative manufacturers, but even if you’re not, I mean, how do you suppose that the coronavirus has changed the way we even search for manufacturers? Maybe the way the questions you ask, the due diligence. Of course, we’re all familiar with the supply chain disruptions that have been prevalent in every place, from semiconductors to porkchops, basically. Does that change, do you think, in any way the approach or at least tweak the approach in trying to find the right manufacturer?
Susan Dudas: [00:14:41] I would think that anyone that lived through COVID – in my case, I was trying to launch during COVID – I would think would have a very different perspective and more careful perspective on preparation when it comes to the manufacturing process, preparation in terms of, you mentioned, supply chains disruption. Initially when things were shutting down in March of 2020, everyone was trying to gobble up components, you know, their packaging components. It felt like almost a free for all of what can you get, when can you get it, and how can you secure it.
Susan Dudas: [00:15:24] Interestingly, we were not only competing against other beauty manufacturers, but we were competing against our own manufacturers who were completely changing their lines over to manufacture hand sanitizer, because that’s where the margins where. Everyone wanted hand sanitizer. So, obviously, not only impacted our lead times and our ability to get the attention of our manufacturer, but it also impacted the supply chain components. Trying to get bottles and pumps at a time when everyone was trying to fill bottles with hand sanitizer was a real challenge.
Susan Dudas: [00:16:06] So, you know, my take away from that is, I really can expect longer lead times. It is definitely impacting lead times. I need to be prepared. I need to keep track of my inventory. Especially in my business, because I can’t turn on the faucet tomorrow. There’s a lot of testing with over-the-counter drugs. It takes a good year – for me anyway – to bring a product to market because of all the testing involved. So, with a long lead times with the manufacturers that I think just will be there, I really sense will continue to be there post-COVID, that you have to really be more careful with your planning.
Mike Blake: [00:16:50] And I haven’t thought about what you just described, that all up and down the supply chain you’d be fighting not just for the resources for the manufactured product, but the packaging as well. In your case, the dispensing packaging. Did you have any recourse? I mean, do manufacturers make any commitment they’re going to allocate X amount of production with you? Or do they have more or less complete power in terms of where you are in the queue?
Susan Dudas: [00:17:19] I think it’s also where you fit in the food chain, right? As a small indie startup, they have MOQs, Minimum Order Quantities. And as a startup, my quantities are going to be small relative to their larger customers that can keep their lines going for a long time. So, it depends on where you are in, like I say, the food chain as to how much negotiating power you have. I realized that having heated conversations about lead times were getting me nowhere. Because I suspect that every time they picked up the phone, they were having those very similar conversations with their other customers.
Susan Dudas: [00:18:01] And manufacturers were at low capacity. At some point, they were below 50 percent in terms of their ability to operate. So, it wasn’t just their lines. They were cleaning all the time. In particular clean industries that are going to be shut down for cleaning. They have protocols they had to have in place. And to your earlier point, I think some of those protocols will continue on because of just good manufacturing practices. But, yeah, it was definitely more challenging, and I think those things will continue on. And I realized that as a small startup, I didn’t have a lot of leverage.
Mike Blake: [00:18:45] So, you and I were having a conversation yesterday in preparing for this one, in which I learned a lot just having a preliminary. And one of the things that came up that I’d love you to talk about a little bit is, the role of the manufacturer often is not, I guess, just, “Hey, make me some stuff.” They provide other services. Many of them, it sounds like, provide many other services to help move the product from idea into production. And can you talk about what some of those are and how you’ve availed yourself of some of those support services?
Susan Dudas: [00:19:25] Sure. The first question, I need to ask myself and anyone, again, about ready to embark upon this journey is, do you have a design? Now, that’s critical. So, that’s going to determine which direction you go. If you already have a design, then you’re going to look for a contract manufacturer. If you don’t have a design, then you have some questions to ask yourself. Do I want a custom design? Do I want my manufacturer to do some R&D, create my design, a custom design, and make it? Or is it so special that you need to find a specialist to create your design or formulation and then come back to manufacture and have them make it?
Susan Dudas: [00:20:06] Or are you such that you just want to get your product to market, you’ve got a phenomenal marketing distribution strategy and you’ll do private label? Meaning, I don’t need to own this design. I just need you to make it. Pull some stock design off the shelf, make it for me. I’ll put my fabulous label or packaging on it and away I go.
Susan Dudas: [00:20:33] So, upfront, the design question and the ownership, which is closely coupled to that, is really, really critical. It was critical for me. I wanted custom formulation and I went through that process. So, I found a great manufacturer that had a phenomenal R&D team and we worked together to create some great products.
Mike Blake: [00:21:03] Now, since you’re an Amazon seller and my wife is an Amazon seller. She’s been on the program before, I think it was episode 49. And one of the things that is always on your mind, especially with Amazon, I think, is product liability. And I understand from my conversations with Cordelia, anything that’s FDA regulated, Amazon, some justification watches like a hawk, and they have low to zero tolerance policies for mess ups. And, again, one of the things you and I were talking about that I haven’t thought about before was handling liability. If a product is bad and then gets released into the wild and then hurts the customer, it’s going to move back up the supply chain or somebody else has to take responsibility.
Mike Blake: [00:21:53] And the question I’d like to ask you is, if something goes wrong, is it going to be somebody like you that’s actually ultimately paying the manufacturer? Or does the manufacturer have responsibility, where if they do something wrong that they’re the ones that pay the price as opposed to you, or is it shared, or some entirely different kind of model?
Susan Dudas: [00:22:14] So, I do want to look for shared responsibility. And I have walked away from contracts. As we discussed yesterday and prepped for this show, I have walked away from manufacturers that were not willing to look at a shared responsibility. And those things that they control, I believe they should have responsibility for. If they use the wrong ingredients or they use the wrong processes, and they’re out of compliance, there needs to be some liability capability and a risk falls on that. If I take ownership of the product and I mishandle it, placed it in conditions that are going to affect its effectiveness, then I should have a liability.
Susan Dudas: [00:23:00] So, I look for shared responsibility and I’m willing to spend the money for attorneys to make sure that we get that right. And as I said, I walked away from very much one sided risk contracts, where the burden is on me and not on that manufacturer. It was so important, because something is going to happen. There’s going to be some type of claim. It’s going to happen. So, you really need to negotiate that upfront before you become a partner or married to a manufacturer.
Mike Blake: [00:23:40] So, at the start of our conversation, you emphasized pretty heavily the need to be prepared. What does that look like? How do you prepare for a conversation with a manufacturer, particularly for the first one?
Susan Dudas: [00:23:53] Right. Yeah. I think it’s easy as anticipating what you think they’re going to ask you. So, they’re going to ask you, do you have the design? I went over that. They’re going to ask you what capabilities does this design require? You need to know that. Do you need extruding? Do you need molding? Do you need clean manufacturing for printed circuit board design or if you’re manufacturing food. Is it stamping? Is it an assembly line? Is it batch? So, you need to know that, what those capabilities are that are required. And then, you need to know what else you want them to do for you.
Susan Dudas: [00:24:37] One of your questions before, they do an array. Many manufacturers can offer an array of functions, filling, labeling, packaging, testing if required. Some of them do fulfillment. Some will do a full turnkey. I mean, they’ll offer marketing services and design your packaging for you. I’m not sure I’d recommend that. You’re not their core business. So, knowing what you need from the manufacturer is really key.
Susan Dudas: [00:25:12] A couple of things that are really important, know what your costs are, what are your target costs. Go into that conversation knowing what’s your retail costs, what margins you need to get, and then you’re talking to them about that per unit target cost. That’s going to weed out some manufacturers right there. Quantities, your MOQs, that’s going to weed out some manufacturers. If you’re a startup and their MOQ is, maybe, 100,000 and you’re like, “No. I can’t order 100,000 for my initial order.” Well then, you need to walk somewhere else.
Susan Dudas: [00:25:45] And then, of course, you want to know about lead times. Given your particular design, your product, how long is it going to take, not only for that first order, but how long is it going to take for successive orders so that you can plan for your inventory so that you’re not out of stock at a very important critical time, maybe in the year, the selling cycle. And then, the contract, knowing what you need to have in a contract, is it ownership, is it liability? The compliance.
Mike Blake: [00:26:16] That’s good. So, let’s say we’ve identified some manufacturers. We’ve done our homework. Who do you contact? Is it a plant manager? Is it the owner? What’s the title of the job function? The person you need to talk to that can have that conversation and represent the manufacturer to you so that you don’t have to have the same conversation three or four times?
Susan Dudas: [00:26:43] I think it depends on the size of the manufacturer. My experience has been sales reps, account managers typically are your initial contact. That’s typically who you’re going to have that rapport with. Most manufacturers in the sides I’ve dealt with have had that function within the organization. So, you’re dealing with a sales organization, an account manager function. But I wouldn’t stop there as you move through. That’s going to be your initial.
Susan Dudas: [00:27:12] But as you move through the relationship, and you’re vetting, and you’re narrowing down your list, you really want to start having additional conversations up the hierarchy. And here’s why, as I mentioned before, you’re going to have problems. You’re going to run into problems, whether they’re external problems or internal manufacturing problems. And you really don’t want that first conversation that you’re having the escalated conversation. You don’t really want that first conversation with that director of engineering or director of operations to be a heated discussion. You want to have some relationship points in the bank so that if you’re negotiating with them, it’s not your first time discussion.
Mike Blake: [00:28:06] So, as you then move into that process, what are you looking for from, I guess, how the manufacturer’s present themselves? How are you vetting them then to make sure that they can do what they say that they can do?
Susan Dudas: [00:28:23] I use a spreadsheet, so I list my options along the left hand side and I list my criterion across the top and I just start keeping track, whether it’s a rating number or check mark – I’ve done both. But I keep my spreadsheet. And as I talk to manufacture and move through the process, I’m seeing how many checks I have or how their score is. That’s how I really vet and move through. And, obviously, you can prioritize those. If their costs are too high, off the list. Or if they’re quantities are the threshold, quantities are too high, off the list. So, I think it’s keeping that spreadsheet, continuing those conversations. As I said, the contract that was key for me. I actually vetted down to a few on a couple of occasions. And I was surprised and saddened that I had to remove them from the list.
Mike Blake: [00:29:28] Do you ever have an opportunity to talk to some of the manufacturers or other customers, get kind of a testimony or review?
Susan Dudas: [00:29:36] I have not. Not in my industry. We just don’t really talk about the manufacturers. Maybe I’m in the wrong circles. Maybe I got to get in better circles. But, no. In terms of references, I have. But that’s very, very, very few because they keep their customers very, very close. In fact, very rarely would they release a customer name. Maybe at a trade show or something, I might have a little bit of exposure to that. But, typically, it’s a good manufacturer that does not release their customers names. They’re very careful about that.
Mike Blake: [00:30:21] And in your process, did you make any site visits? Did you actually go there and walk the floor?
Susan Dudas: [00:30:26] Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s a key criterion for me. And I’ve done it twice. Typically two visits for the ones that I’m seriously considering. Two visits, because the first visit your eyes are wide open. It’s a good exchange. They’re on their best behavior. After that, you’re going to have a lot of questions. As you go back and you get those questions answered, you definitely see things differently, hopefully not too differently, but it’s a deeper dive that second time. I would clearly recommend that.
Mike Blake: [00:31:06] And when you walk the floor, I’m curious, what are some of the things that you’re looking for?
Susan Dudas: [00:31:11] Well, I’m looking for quality. I’m asking about maintenance of their equipment, asking about their testing procedures. I love seeing their testing room. Sometimes they leave you out of there if they have anything that’s proprietary going on. But, typically they don’t. Their customers names are not visible. But I love going into their labs and their testing facilities to see that I’m looking for safety. Safety, not only employee safety precautions, but product safety, people wearing nets, their shoes covered, what kind of environment does that look like. So, eyes wide open. And am I being introduced to different people in the different organizations, touch points that I would have if I was a customer of them.
Mike Blake: [00:32:08] Now, over the course of your selection process, did you find yourself developing a relationship with the manufacturers management? A chance to really talk with them and see how much they really seemed to care about you or your idea? Did that ever factor into your decision or no?
Susan Dudas: [00:32:30] Yes, it did. It was important for me to meet the R&D manager because we were looking at custom manufacturing. I wasn’t pulling a stock formulation off the shelf. I wanted something custom. I wanted to be right there. I wanted to show them samples of what I was looking for. And I wanted them to see it. I wanted them to try it. I want to touch it, put it on, tell them what I liked about it and didn’t. That was the R&D director – that was really important – because he was overseeing the customization, the formulation process. So, that was critical.
Susan Dudas: [00:33:07] I did not meet and I have a regret that I didn’t meet the sales executive, the sales director. Because we had had some conversations during COVID that were not always pleasant with lead times and such. And this is something I would recommend to your audience, as I mentioned before, you really don’t want that first conversation to be that heated conversation. So, the extent that on your visits or even post-visit that you can make contact with the head of sales or head of account management, other leaders, I would recommend that build some rapport, it could be helpful in your negotiations.
Mike Blake: [00:33:51] So, in your particular search, how long did it take you to find a manufacturer from the time you said, “Hey, I need to find a manufacturer,” to the time when you said, “Okay. I’ve got one, and they’re going to be my primary source.”
Susan Dudas: [00:34:05] About six months.
Mike Blake: [00:34:07] And do you think that’s typical? Do you think that it takes most people that amount of time in your experience?
Susan Dudas: [00:34:13] I think the question, it depends. I hate to say that, but it really does depend on the complexity of your product. It depends on the industry that you’re in. It depends on the amount of labor you put into the search. If you still got your day job and you can only do this at certain hours, it might prolong your search. But I think that’s probably a good standard. And, also, it depends if you’re going to private label, just pull a stock item off the shelf or design off the shelf and you’re going to label that yourself. That’s going to be a rather quick process. Most of that time is going to be around, you know, getting your packaging ready and making sure that your contract is in place.
Mike Blake: [00:35:01] And in your search, how many manufacturers did you talk to before finally settling on one?
Susan Dudas: [00:35:07] Oh, wow. At least 20.
Mike Blake: [00:35:10] Really, 20?
Susan Dudas: [00:35:11] Oh, my gosh, yes. At least 20.
Mike Blake: [00:35:14] Yes. And I assume just calling them up or emailing them and having your initial conversations. I’m sure you didn’t visit all 20. Your probably narrowed —
Susan Dudas: [00:35:23] No, I did not. That first call, because I knew what to ask, “Do you manufacture mineral sunscreen?” “Sorry. We don’t do over-the-counter drugs.” Or, “No. We don’t do mineral. We’ll do chemical,” which is very different. So, I was able to eliminate maybe 40 percent just with those first two questions. And then, after that, we get into the MOQs and locations and lead times. And in my industry, the demand is greater than the supply of manufactures. So, there’s long lead times.
Mike Blake: [00:36:08] We’re talking with Susan Dudas, founder of Make2Give LLC, which is also known as My Day Screen. And the topic is, How do I choose a manufacturer? So, I’m curious also, did you only consider domestic manufacturers or were you inclined to explore, perhaps, foreign manufacturing?
Susan Dudas: [00:36:28] Yeah. I love that question. I was only looking for domestic, not only the made in America, but just very practical. I mean, that was primarily why I wanted the products made in America. But, also, I think about the time zone, that was very much a consideration for me. As well as you think you take possession of product, you’ve got the whole shipping. Do they store it then? Or do they bring it back here then I have to find storage over here? It was actually something I didn’t put a lot of thought into international, but I’m aware that there would be a lot of considerations if you’re considering that. Fortunately, I was able to find a great manufacturer that we could arrive on a lot of the terms within the contract, and have had great success with them.
Mike Blake: [00:37:21] So, do you have or have you given thought to having backup manufacturers in case the first one, for whatever reason, isn’t able to fulfill an order, you get shoved to the back of the queue because you’re the small fry in the pile? Have you thought about or maybe do you even have a backup manufacturer? And if so, how many do you have? And what do those agreements look like?
Susan Dudas: [00:37:46] Right. I would say, just in general, that’s really wonderful. That’s where the spreadsheet helps out as you’re narrowing down your choices. You’re looking at those that meet most of your criteria that could be considered a backup. I think that’s critically important because you don’t want to be caught with not having inventory. Or if they have a problem, maybe they’ve got some compliance issues that come up. That wasn’t my case. But, you know, if they have some audit issues or something comes up, you need a backup. You really don’t want to keep your customers hanging or your employees hanging as well.
Susan Dudas: [00:38:28] So, in my case, in my situation, I am looking for another manufacturer for a very specific process and product, because my current manufacturer does not use that particular process. And I don’t have a good sense from the industry state on this, but you’re not going to find a manufacturer necessarily that’s going to be able to do all of your line, the current and future line. There might be some processes that they’re not able to do. So, that’s the situation and so I am looking for another manufacturer. And it is very, very challenging. Quite honestly, I think it’s because of the demand and supply. It’s hard to get their attention, hard to get them to reply back on the phone. So, it is a challenge.
Mike Blake: [00:39:21] And, you know, finding the first manufacturer is hard enough. I’m guessing the second manufacturer where you’re basically saying, “Hey, I basically just need you on standby, but I’m not necessarily sending you a lot of business right now.” Not as exciting a conversation from their perspective, if we’re honest about it.
Susan Dudas: [00:39:38] That’s very true. Very true. Or this other product that I want to manufacture, maybe, it’s not going to have the yield, the volume, that would be exciting. So, absolutely to your point, yes.
Mike Blake: [00:39:54] Susan, this has been a great conversation. I want to be respectful of your time and we’re running out of time. If there’s somebody in our audience that wants to ask you a question that we didn’t discuss, somebody who wants to go deeper into something that we did, would you be willing to kind of take their question? And if so, what’s the best way for them to contact you?
Susan Dudas: [00:40:16] Oh, I’d absolutely love to help. Anybody that’s been through this journey knows it’s not an easy one. So, I’d like to make it easier for someone else. I can be reached at dudas, D-U-D-A-S, @mydayscreen, S-C-R-E-E-N, .com. That’s dudas@mydayscreen.com.
Mike Blake: [00:40:38] Well, thank you, Susan.
Susan Dudas: [00:40:39] Thank you, Mike.
Mike Blake: [00:40:39] That’s going to wrap it up for this program. I’d like to thank Susan Dudas so much for sharing her expertise with us.
Mike Blake: [00:40:45] We’ll be exploring a new topic each week, so please tune in so that when you’re faced with your next business decision, you have clear vision when making it. If you enjoy these podcasts, please consider leaving a review with your favorite podcast aggregator. It helps people find us that we can help them. If you like to engage with me on social media with my Chart of the Day and other content, I’m on LinkedIn as myself and @unblakeable on Facebook, Twitter, Clubhouse, and Instagram. Once again, this is Mike Blake. Our sponsor is Brady Ware & Company. And this has been the Decision Vision podcast.
