536: US Manufacturing Is NOT Dead! How To Make Textiles Profitably In The USA With Annette DeLancey

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You’re listening to the My Wife Quarter Job podcast, the place where I bring on successful bootstrap business owners and delve deeply into what strategies are working and what strategies are not with their businesses. Now, today I invited my friend Annette Delancey on the show to talk about a question that I literally get at least once per week. How can you source from the good old US of A and still remain competitive from a pricing standpoint? So in this episode, Annette and I discussed the process for prototyping and creating textile products without going to China. But before we begin,

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I want to let you know that this is the last call for tickets for the 2024 Seller Summit over at SellerSummit.com. The Seller Summit is the conference that I hold every year that specifically targets e-commerce entrepreneurs selling physical products online. And unlike other events that focus on inspirational stories and high-level BS, mine is a curriculum-based event where you will leave with practical and actionable strategies specifically for an e-commerce business. Every speaker I invite is deep in the trenches of their business. Entrepreneurs who are importing large quantities of physical goods

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and not some high level guys who are overseeing their companies at 50,000 feet. Now I personally hate large events, so the Seller Summit is always small and intimate. Every year we cut off ticket sales at around 200 people, so tickets sell out fast, and we sold out every single year for the past eight years. Now if you’re an e-commerce entrepreneur making over 250k or $1 million per year, we also offer an exclusive mastermind experience with other top sellers. The Seller Summit’s gonna be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from May 14th May 16th.

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So go over to mywifequitterjob.com slash book, fill out the form and I’ll send you the bonuses right away. Now onto the show.

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Welcome to the My Wife Quarter Job podcast. Today I’m really happy to have Annette Delancey back on the show. And last time she was on, we broke down her castcovers.com business where she makes millions selling orthopedic soft goods like cast covers and boot covers. And in that episode, we actually went over her amazing business model where she sells over 2000 SKUs that she manufactures herself on demand. And while she’s still running cast covers, that’s not going to be the topic of today’s episode.

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Instead, we’re going to talk about her new business, which is in my opinion, way cooler than Cascovers and I am actually a customer. So in this episode, we’re going to break down her new venture, She Makes Products, where she helps other entrepreneurs bring their textile products to life in the United States. And with that, welcome back on the show, Annette. How are doing? Hi, Steve. Thanks. Welcome back to having me. And it’s great to be here and just talk business. Yeah. Before we talk about She Makes Products, just

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catch us up on castcovers.com. There’ve been a lot of changes all over the industry since you were last on. So about two years ago, I was hit with the what I call the Chinese invasion. And I’m surprised it took that long for them to find my product on Amazon. And because I have the trifecta, I have a easy to ship product, basically about $20 and low entry to barrier. But because the way I had separated the SKUs and the reviews, it wasn’t just

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my arms product, for example, which cover a cast, it was Arms Black and then Arms Red or Arms USA Pride or blah, blah. So it took a while for them to find me and all my different products. And I’m happy to say I’ve done a very good job of keeping on my toes. I’m not going to be cocky or complacent when I get competition. I want to make sure that I have the right product, the right messaging.

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It’s all about USA made. It’s also about caring and it’s the quality of the product. The interesting thing is I do have a challenge, is it’s what gets me up every morning because people don’t, well, we hope our customers never come back and we don’t want them to come back because they’ve hurt themselves. And so we have to do a good job the first time. And so there’s no real repeat business except my B2B channel, which is a totally different channel.

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And but my direct consumer, whether it’s Amazon or whether it’s on my website, it’s very important we do a good job the first time and that time. And if you’re in a cast, it’s a three to six week typically period of time. And if you’re looking in Amazon and you look at my products versus my competition, they may have six items in a package at a reduced cost versus my one at 20. So I have to really

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really sell the benefits and features. And we’ve been able to keep them at bay. And they do nip into my market share, but it just keeps me challenged and the opportunity to show the customers the difference. The quality, our quality is substantially better. And it does make a difference. I can’t change the minds of those consumers that are really price sensitive.

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but the other customers who really want to have a quality American-made product. So it’s been a really fun and challenging time and it keeps me, as I said, on my toes. So that’s very interesting aspect of the world we live in. How important is Made in the USA today, actually? I’m always curious. It has become more and more. And the reason I know that is because on my social media, when I’m not talking about it, people say, and this product is made in the USA.

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And or we get some random phone calls and or email saying thank you for being the USA. Thank you. We just got another one where a woman said bless bless you for your business made in the USA. And it I mean these are random notes that we get from people. I have I did a test once where I had a separate page for a very popular item. One of our colors on our arm cuffs covers and it was.

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did not say Made in the USA. The other page said Made in the USA. It was six to one orders. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So that was That was the test. So in my gut, I know that it’s a positive factor that we promote that were made in the USA. We still have to rely on many other things like quality and timing and delivery and the messaging. But there’s no question Made in the USA makes a difference. I’m curious, Annette. So

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Are most of your sales on Amazon now or do you still make a decent amount on your website as well? So it’s a good question. It’s a two factor question. I look at it as number one, top line revenue without a doubt. Amazon is still a majority of sales, which I am consistently trying to bring down. So it’s not such a big egg in my basket. However, my sales on my main website, CastCountriesWithaZ.com.

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the margins are much better. So my revenue margins are better on my main website. So volume, you think commodity product is better with Amazon. That makes sense. Well, let’s switch gears and talk about She Makes Products because I’m actually really excited about this. First of all, describe what it is and then what were some of your motivations for starting it? So She Makes Products is primarily for women product entrepreneurs.

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to break through that six figure revenue barrier profitably so they can grow in scale. And as well as helping anybody in the sewn products and the manufacturing world, just get profitable so they can create what their dreams are. And my tagline is you made a product, so make a profit. And it’s very important and it’s a foundation because I went through it with Cast Covers.

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And I’m so glad we started with cast covers because I almost lost cast covers twice because I was having profitability issues. so once I understood and learned the system through Profit First, Mike Mikalowicz, who has endorsed your book, Family First Entrepreneur. I love that, Profit First, Family First. Nice connection there. It saved my business. So what I wanted to do was really short circuit, short circumvent. wanted to, I wanted to.

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shut down the timing that it takes to learn all of this. And so, and I saw women particularly had an issue because they don’t have the resources. And I’m not talking about just financial resources. I’m talking about support and also just the facts and somebody who’s been down the road before them. So I had an opportunity to start, She Makes Products for a number of different reasons. People started coming to me. And so I helped.

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women product entrepreneurs, and I’ve actually helped a lot of men because She Makes Products can also refer, well, I make products. And the men have really enjoyed it too, and they’re surrounded by women and they love that too. So it’s been a fun venture, but it’s more importantly, I’ve been able to save some businesses. They’ve been able to realize their dreams, bring home money, bring home what their worth is because you should pay yourself first.

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And oftentimes we as entrepreneurs, it’s not just a woman thing, just entrepreneurs have a tendency to put money always back into the business. And we really need to pay ourselves first and remember that we are our key employee. Yeah. So what I liked about your business is you’re into textiles and that’s all we sell. And I’m curious.

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A lot of people have to get their textiles from China because the of labor is lower. However, the minimum order quantities are a lot higher. And I’m just curious, how did you how do you run this business so that the costs are low? And as I mentioned to the audience, like I am a customer and I was actually pretty pleasantly surprised that the costs weren’t completely out of line. Just as an example, you know, our handkerchiefs from China might cost us like 50 cents.

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But if we were to source not from you, but from someone else, it’d be like five bucks per handkerchief. But you your prices are reasonable. How have you managed to do that? That’s a great question. It is really cultivating the talent that I found my sewists and and being able to maintain pricing. I also am in a position because of cast covers where I have the volume to

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get wholesale pricing, very large wholesale pricing. And so there’s some benefits there. I used to have a shop, production shop, and five and a half years ago, for a variety of reasons, I decided to pivot my traditional business model and outsource it. And it has worked really well. There’s a couple of hiccups, but what’s really interesting is I really miss having a shop. And so there’s a high likelihood I’m going to be opening a shop here in San Diego County.

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which is one of the most expensive areas in the That’s why I’m asking the question, because the minimum wage here for fast food workers, I think is 20 bucks, right? Yes. Oh, yes. So I’m so glad you asked this question. So what I did, because I thought there’s just got to be a way to be able to open a shop and give people jobs. I believe very strongly in the culture of an organization and being able to provide jobs and training and possibly be a entrepreneurial

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incubator lab for people that are interested in textiles, particularly for me, with my experience. And so what I have found, and this is really important for all of your listeners, is what you do is you go to the chamber and or your economic development council, local, and you find out if they have subsidies for payroll. And there are programs out there, particularly in high, high wage areas like

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San Diego, they will pay up to, in some cases, up to six to 12 months, 50 to 90 % of their payroll. Because I’m training them. Yes. So check that out, Steve, for your own, because you’re in high rent desert too. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, we’re in the same state, so. Yes. And I talk about this on, I have a podcast called The Profitable Manufacturer, and I have a colleague, and we’ve talked about this, and there’s…

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There’s a number of different programs that are available. So that’s something else that I would. So that’s how I know that it would be profitable from the beginning. And what’s important is that you have an ascension ladder for your employees so that they can, whether it’s learning how to make patterns, whether it’s learning how to be in the supply chain, there’s a number of different areas that they could go and grow. And those are different career opportunities.

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as well as working in my company or move on. And I like to create culture of where people are really proud and excited to come work and they feel that they’re valuable. Too often in the sewn products industry, it’s a cutthroat industry and they grind them out. And that’s just not how I want my employees to feel. Right. Yeah. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised, one, by the quality.

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And I’m not sure if I’m getting special treatment here, but also the speed of production has been really fast. One, because you’re local and I don’t have to wait for something to come by boat and the minimum order quantities are significantly lower as well. Yes, that’s right. And that’s I think this is really important because as you said, MOQs could be 300 units and this is really hard to do. And I did this at the beginning. had to go. I understand that. And I’ve done it periodically where I have had to do MOQs for other

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parts of my cast covers business. And then I just said, you know, plus not to mention there’s usually issues with the sewing contractors and always the, what do I call it? Unraveling. And I’m using that as a pun unraveling the thread of the dark side of sewing contractors. It is really important to you, if you treat your people well, they will respond in kind. And I have had the same sewing contractors for years. The business has been,

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Cast Covers is 15 years old and I’ve had the same contractors 10, 12 years now. So Cast Covers allows you to have this network and meet the minimums, which allows you to bring people that are reliable because you’ve been working with them for a long time. Yes. So in effect, you’ve kind of parlayed all your work that you’ve done with Cast Covers into She Makes products. It’s like a symbiotic relationship. And that’s the benefit. There’s no question when I help a client of mine, it’s from my 15 years of experience.

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with cask covers. Okay. All right. So walk me through the process of how this works. I’m not sure if I went through the typical process since we’re friends. Actually, it was it kind of the same. So when I find out, first of all, what your goals are, what you what you identify, I also find out what you’re currently paying and what your minimums are. Right. And then when I find out that you’ve high, high minimums, I get excited because I can do, you know, very low minimums and

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You got to have some kind of volume. So if somebody’s listening and say, oh, I want to talk to Annette, there is an element of first a production sample will always cost you more, always, particularly if you’ve never had a product before. But Steve and Jen had products they could send me. And so I saw the quality. saw what they were used to. And can I either replicate it completely or even possibly elevate it a little bit? And so that was the important thing. So I talked about that with my sewist and I have one particular sewist I use for cottons.

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And she’s very, very good. She and another gentleman are very good. And then talking about the costs and that type of thing. And what I’m hoping to do is once we have our run with Bumble Bee Linens, we’re actually going to be able come back to you and maybe lower the cost, which is completely different than most of my character.

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17:18
Exactly. Yeah, you just define textiles and what what exactly you help with like do you help with bags or is it mainly just clothing or oh anything textiles anything fabric if there is a For example, I had a company that was a bag company. was a very involved bag company What I mean by that is the bag itself had a lot of components to a lot of different elements to it lots of labor involved and as a result it

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was expensive, but they loved the quality and they decided to go with us. It was a pet company that also wanted to do accessory products. Those also can be the little or tiny products like Barbie doll outfits, things like that. Those are almost always more expensive, like newborn because of the little tiny intricacies that are involved. the fabric, so cottons, twills,

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Spandex, Lycra, think stretchy bathing suit material. All of those, I can handle all of those. I even handle denier, think of backpacks, Do you do microfiber as well? Yes. So what I want to just address in this interview is let’s say I’m completely new, I don’t sell anything yet, right? But I have this idea, let’s say for a bag, and I come up to you, what are some of the questions that would make it

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worth your while as well as mine. Great. Okay. So what I would do is find out A, what are your goals? What are your expectations? Do you have any drawings yet? Do you need tech specs? Do you need a tech pack? Do you need some of the specifications that are typically common in sewing goods industry? Okay. Are you looking for somebody to source fabric for you? Do you already have fabric? Do you have sourcing? That type of thing. So find out a little bit more about the foundational aspects of it. Then how many do they hope to sell? You know, what are they thinking of selling?

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What is their target market? You know, is quality? Is it convenience? What, you know, what are some of the values that they want for their product? And then if we come to a meeting of the minds, then what I do is get a, if they have a prototype, me a prototype. Even if it’s, I’ve had people send me, it’s interesting, paper with tape. And it was a bag. It was supposed to be fabric. And they could have gone to Joanne Fabrics and, you know, picked up some fabric, but they sent me paper with tape.

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And so I got an idea that’s a whole different product because project because you have to start from square one with the patterns and the pattern making. So that’s that’s different. And that would be like a one time fee because once the pattern is made, the pattern is made. Yes. And whether it’s graded and and and the pattern marking and if there’s any sizing elements, you know, scaling of a design, that type of thing. Do you want custom fabric? You know, some customers want custom fabric.

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Let’s come up with a bit. Let’s say I want to manufacture some really simple like a t shirt, but it’s like a special t shirt and I have something I picked up at a store that I say, Hey, take this and what I do what I want is like a pocket here and a pocket there and whatnot. Does that require like a tech pack or visit great question. I just finished a contract with a upstart new apparel manufacturing company was it’s a family friendly so it’s mom and dad and their children.

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clothing line and it’s a t-shirt and had very specialized fabric. They wanted the pocket, a very specialized type of pocket. And the fabric was the issue because it was bamboo and bamboo is very difficult to sew on a consistent basis. Very difficult. They have since moved on thinking, we may not be doing bamboo.

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And just because it is so difficult to and have the pockets, the pockets had to have certain type of darts in it and that type of thing. So yes, I can do that. But that required in that particular situation, because this particular client wants to do really big and go big, they needed tech packs. we made sure my marker and grader, all of that came in, got them their tech packs, and they have it they have it forever now.

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I’m just curious, so for someone who’s just trying to test the market, though, let’s say I just want like a couple hundred units. What is the process involved? Can you just give me a ballpark cost? I mean, it doesn’t have to be an exact cost, but yeah, just to get an idea. Yeah. So let’s forget fabric because fabric makes a difference. Of course. Just labor. Yeah, just labor. Yes. And depending on the size, it makes a difference as well, because you can imagine XXL versus a Tyler T. Anywhere between eight and $12 is the labor.

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Per unit per unit. OK, yeah, and can vary depending on how much is on the T shirt. Maybe it’s without a pocket, you know, but this would be a standard T shirt with a pocket right and size properly. Do you need a tech pack to get started? Absolutely not. OK, no, you what you need is uniformity. So if you have different, let’s say different colors, somebody buys a color and then they like it and then they they come back and buy another color.

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and then the consistency is different, that’s going to create a problem. So the important thing is to find a consistency. So what you want to do is have, you know, get testing done, have your sewing contractor provide some samples of what they’ve done, like at the beginning and at the end of a run without a tech pack. That’s the key. So in order to make, because I know you can get like a t-shirt from China for super cheap to make it worthwhile.

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it has to be a special garment that’s maybe targeting like the mid to high end. Yeah, I that’s usually the way it ends up. Okay. If there’s a custom element to it, you can you can purchase t shirts, for example, in bulk, maybe you put a, you know, an insignia on the on the sleeve. Right? It’s as simple as that is just adding a little label. And because it maybe it goes with something else that you’re selling.

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There’s a lot of things we can do to reduce the cost to get the message out there, to get you out there, to get the traction that you need. But the most important part is that you’ll help with the entire process, right? Absolutely. Vertical integration. I’m sure most people listening don’t even know what a tech pack is. Probably not. And that’s OK. That’s what I’m here for. And a tech pack is typically for larger volume sewing. But there are some sewing contractors that require a tech pack.

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And tech is T-E-C-H. So it’s short for technical pack, P-A-C-K. And basically it shows all of your drawings and specifications. It tells the sewing contractor where to put what. It’s very, very, very technical. Let me just tell the audience, the reason why I brought up prices is because there’s a lot of things to consider where you manufacture stuff. I’ll just talk about my own experiences here. When you go buy something from China, you have to buy in much larger quantities.

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And there’s often lead times. Sometimes our lead times are upwards of four months. And what that means is we have to buy at least four months worth of inventory, probably more than that, right? So that we don’t run out of stock. And that actually ties up our money a lot. Plus we have to pay for shipping, customs and all that stuff. Whereas with what attracted me to you, Annette, was that you can turn things around in weeks, not months.

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And so that means we don’t actually have to outlay all this large amount of cash to buy these large quantities because lead times are significantly lower. Correct. And that actually makes a huge difference that most people don’t think about in their calculations. You actually have to buy 2X what your velocity is so you don’t run out of stock. Exactly. So for someone brand new, it’s actually much more palatable to

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buy in smaller unit quantities with shorter lead times, then place this gigantic order with China that’ll tie up all of your cash for four months. Yes, absolutely. That’s the beauty of the way I am structuring the business. So people can come in and really make a difference, get the traction that they need, see what kind of volume they can do. And then I can help them find higher volume contractors.

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Walk me through that process actually. So when does it make sense for you to look for higher volume contractors and reduce the prices? Depends on the project and the level of SKUs. So for example, I have a client that the one that was mentioning with the children’s clothing company, they have about 12 SKUs, but they have about 1000 units each SKU that they want. And that’s a different level.

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and they can get better pricing different places. And so I help them and it they’re looking at Mexico. That’s a possibility as well as China. The concerns about the geopolitical tensions with China are always an issue. I don’t think that’s ever going to go away. But in Mexico is closer to you can just one of my recommendations for my clients is go visit your inventory and walk the floor of your sewing contractor, wherever it is.

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go walk the floor, visit, you know, and make sure they see who you are. Do it at least once a year. And if it means an overseas trip, it means an overseas trip because there have been so many times that clients have been burned. Yeah. What are some of the other trade-offs that you can think of actually between going outside versus local?

27:24
Because I can only talk about my experience, but there’s people that are contracting in Mexico. It’s fairly local, right? And you can still, you know, I guess, hop on a plane and go over there. What are some of the other trade-offs that you can think of? Well, an FYI, Mexico is considered near shore. Okay. Just FYI. I do have a client who’s actually looking into having the Amish community sell their products also. Here in the States. So that’s another option. They’re usually

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in the, I would say, bags are a great place for them. Twills and cottons are very good, not so much in the stretchy fabrics. But the issue there is typically they don’t have a production floor. They have people in their home sewing the units. But if you have a product, like if you have a bag, let’s say the backpack, and it’s made out of different fabrics, and you give that to one sewist, you give that to another sewist, and

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as long as the consistency and the quality is there, it should be a great way to do it. So anyway, Mexico would be considered near shore. So some of the other benefits and or obstacles, challenges that you need to consider is number one, as I mentioned, the exposure to you as the client, they need to see you in your face and you need to go touch your stuff every once in a while. And I also recommend even if you have inventory and you

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you need to touch your inventory. I’m sure Steve, you and Jen go through and touch your inventory. You have to, you just have to make sure that you know your inventory. Plus if you’re not careful, they’ll slip in thinner fabric. exactly. That’s exactly right. And then you don’t know until you get your container full. So always ask for production. Always ask for production. Never, ever, ever, ever skip that step. You need a protection.

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unit for them to send to you and approve that and then hang on to that. Don’t send it back. Let me ask you this, Gannett. If I’m brand new and I’m coming up to you for help, what are the materials I should already have ready? Ideally? What are the materials that you should have ready to make sure we’re not wasting time? It is to do a prototype.

29:46
So well, if to answer your question, if I understood it correctly, the client customer and their brand new, they really know nothing. They just have this idea. We create a prototype. And so we do that typically with just out of like black fabric or something like that. And then what do you like about this and start working through the different discussion about what are they looking for? That type of thing. And while I’m seeing in brighter colors, I was thinking of different color thread. was thinking, you know, and so this gives them something, something to hold on to and something to look at.

30:14
And then they start, okay, got it. Especially a lot of times people are so unfamiliar with the sewn products that my job is to educate them. My job, if I’ve done a good job, they know a lot more when they’re done and they can have the conversations with contractors when they’re done with me, if they’re ever done with me. Is there a unit expectation? Because I imagine it takes your time as well as the client’s time,

30:40
No, it just depends on the project. There have been projects I’ve turned down because either A, they weren’t formed well enough, the client could not articulate certain questions that I would ask such as, what do you want to do with it? Where do you see it going? How did you get this idea and why? Who do you want to serve? Things like that. If they can’t articulate that, then they’re not ready. That doesn’t mean that they can’t come back, but they need to articulate that.

31:05
This is what I mean by the minimum requirements. So you have to know who your target market is, what you want, and at least have some, it doesn’t have to be exact idea of what you want, but at least in your mind, maybe like a mock-up or a drawing of what you want. I love the one that I got. It was paper taped as a bag. That’s somebody who was really trying.

31:30
and just doesn’t know the industry didn’t know that they could go to Joanne’s or Walmart even and pick up fabric and you know, come up with something. And so I loved that that client, they decided to go a different direction and not doing a bad company. But I loved that client. Yeah, so in many respects, this is the way you operate is kind of like how how I operate, like I have to like the person they have to have make an effort to to do their homework before they come to you and and then you can help them.

32:00
There’s a lit I have a I have an internal litmus test. So for example, on cast covers, I have a b2b channel. And there are you know, I get a lot of inquiries, you know, all the time, but we do have a contact form. It’s wholesale. And it asks very specific questions to vet them, just like you do. And I so I think they might reach out and say, Hey, I’m interested in here’s who we are. And I just and then I wait.

32:28
I don’t respond right away, actually. If they return within another week or two and say, hey, I’m really interested, boom, I jump on it immediately because that means they’re very interested. And because I get too many looky-loos, then I ask them to fill out the wholesale inquiry. if they don’t fill that out, that’s the litmus test right there. And in fact, I had one from Canada.

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And she said, well, I don’t have my business license yet. And I said, well, fill out the wholesale inquiry to the best of your ability. haven’t heard from her. And so I that’s how I let it go. Yeah, that makes sense. Can we talk about your slogan real quick? She makes products she makes profit. Can we talk about the profit side how you help people make a profit? So the slogan is you made a product excuse me, you made a product now make a profit. Right? Yeah.

33:22
So yes, profitability is my key foundation. You must be profitable right from the get-go. And that’s very hard to do when you’re getting started. And I understand money’s just flying out and you just don’t have anything. But the important thing is when you get a sale, your first sale, you have to set aside money for yourself, for the business and the profit. And yes, you’re gonna set aside some for the debt, to serve the debt. And so the profitability, if you’re not profitable,

33:51
You are not in business. And this is going to really set people off on, but it is considered a hobby if you’re not profitable after three years with the IRS. And to be profitable, that means you’re taking care of your financial obligations like your taxes, all the other financial obligations that you have, but you’re also paying yourself a market wage. And there were a few people who, let’s put it this way,

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They were told to not to have a lot of losses and so they could offset that. But the point is, that then they started getting resentful of their business. Their business wasn’t paying them what they’re worth and it’s kind like, why am I doing this? To just offset my taxes? I mean, there are obviously benefits to tax planning, but that’s not what I’m talking about. So the profitability is the key focus and actually Mike McKellwitz has

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coined the term eradicating entrepreneurial poverty. I love that. mean, cause we all, a lot of us when we get started and we don’t know what we’re doing. And I remember when I was making, when I made, I actually got over that revenue barrier of a hundred thousand dollars and then realized, oh my gosh, I’ve only brought $6,000 into the family coffers. This, I knew there was a problem. That’s a problem.

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And I’m sure a lot of your listeners can understand and relate. And that’s what I help people get a handle on, get financial clarity. The system that I also teach is it makes it easy to make decisions in your business because of the way that you categorize your spending. It also allows a really good night’s sleep. So I’m familiar with the textile portion of She Makes Products. Does the profitability aspect

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come also as part of the package? Yes, yes. Absolutely. does that work? Walk me through it. So if you’re an existing, which a lot of my customers come and they’re already existing, I go through their books with them and say, here’s where we need to, and the process is over. First I do the books, I look at the books, we talk about it, we identify what your cost of goods are and talk about the formula, which is ideally five times cost of goods should be your retail price. And so if you’re,

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If you’ve got something, labor materials cost you 10 bucks, you should be selling it for 50 bucks if you’re going to be making profit. We look at everything. We look at redundancies and subscriptions. We look at everything and payroll, everything. And then we put you on a plan to get you to where you want to be. And it typically takes 12 to 18 months. But what’s the best part is once you start seeing the results after three months, you just become so intense about how to make it happen in your business. And again, it’s worth repeating. It’s saved.

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my business twice. this is independent of the textile portion and how you help. Okay. Yes. So you on one end, you help people create their textile products. Yep. And the other hand, you also help businesses that are existing that may not be profitable and you help them become profitable. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And I have a program called She Makes Profitable Products in 90 Days, and I get them set up so they already are they already have a business and it could be

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jams and jellies or can be sewn products. And they learn how to become profitable because they just know something’s not right, but they don’t know even the questions to ask. I think you addressed this in the beginning of the interview. But it’s called she makes products, you do take men because I know a lot of people listening to this. Yes, I do. I love it. I love it. And so she makes products only because the focus was a lot of women don’t have the resources.

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that men do and or there’s some other issues about mindset and deserve and what they the deserving element, the worth element there’s that’s different. But I also I am she makes products because I make products and so I do help men and I help men a lot. All right, let me ask you this question. And I know a lot of people listening are going to be interested in your services. And you only have a limited amount of time and it sounds like this is pretty high touch. So what can people do and we kind of

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touched upon this earlier, what can people do to entice you, I want to say, to spend your time helping them as opposed to someone else? What are some things that you can do to get your attention? Well, the number one thing is come with an open mind and to see what the possibilities are. That’s the important thing. And the fact that you even come and ask, like if you go to my website and set up a 30-minute consultation, which is free,

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The fact that you’ve done that again is another litmus test. It’s like, okay, there’s something there. But to answer your question directly, it truly is, are you passionate about your project? Are you willing to see it through? What do you see the long-term strategy to be? That can change, but the point is, what is your vision? What do you want to happen? And how can I help you make that happen? Because my…

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Salutation on my emails, the way I end my calls with my clients on She Makes Products is your success, my support. That’s what it’s all about. Yeah, I love that. And I can just speak from my own experiences. If someone has like taken the effort to do their homework, for example, I do these one-on-one consults all the time. There’s some people that come and it’s not productive at all because they do any prep work whatsoever. But the people that do do the prep work

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where we can have a really good active discussion about it. That student has become like already in the top tier. whenever they email, I’m always like just quick to answer them right away. Because I know they’re serious. I know they’re driven. I know they’re going to follow through on whatever they do. It sounds like you have a similar philosophy. In fact, sometimes people come to me and say, well, how do I start a business? OK, so that’s a whole different conversation I have.

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do that generally with people. what I say is, number one is, what can you talk about for the next 10 years? With joy. I mean, that you’re really excited about. So for example, with CAS covers, it’s 15 years old. I can still talk about orthopedic, fun and functional products, and I love it. And so that’s what you have to be able to project. Can I talk about this for the next five to 10 years? That would be the number one thing that people can look at is.

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Is this something that, and I understand things change, people change, circumstances change, currently, could you talk about it? Okay, so walk me through. So where should they go? They should go to shemakesproducts.com? Yes, go to shemakesproducts.com. And then my email is annette at shemakesproducts.com. And definitely just in the subject heading, something that gets my attention. Interesting. So you don’t have a form, it’s just send an email to Annette. At this point, that’s correct.

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But after speaking on stage, who knows, maybe I might have a call. Yeah, I have this feeling that the people listening to this are going to be emailing you. And I just want to make sure they’re prepared so they don’t waste your time and they have the best chance of getting your help. Because I’ve known you for a very long time. You’re very thorough in what you do. And the quality of the samples that we’ve gotten for you for our aprons as well as the handkerchiefs have been top notch. Oh, thank you very much. Because of the headaches that I’ve had with China.

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just make it very attractive. The lead times are lower, the minimum order quantities are lower, and it’s less of our cash being tied. Well, it’s also a great way to test a new design, a new style. so you don’t have a huge cash outlay. Maybe you do a test run of a totally different type of fabric or color or something like that. I talked to Jen about that today. Yeah. And even more important to me is that I know you, and if I’m happy with the quality, I know you’ll make it right.

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which is way more valuable to me then. And these are things that I don’t necessarily have with some of my Chinese vendors over there. That relationship as I talked about is vital. And that’s why, you we only have so many hours in the day as you talk about in your book and you got to make it count. Might as well work with vendors and partners that you like. Right. And that you know, have your back. That’s the important thing. And that’s what’s really, really important for me.

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particularly because the way I was treated by many sewing contractors and vendors. Oh, and I don’t want anybody to ever experience that. They can just hear my stories. So if you’re looking to produce a textile product, man or woman, go over to she makes products.com. Is it the same URL if you need a profitability help as well? Same URL? Yes. And I’ll just clarify. So my she makes profitable products in 90 days, which is my my foundational course can be you can make jams and jellies, you could make

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jewelry, you could make Murphy beds and it applies. Absolutely. And then if you’re in the textile industry and you need help, I can certainly help you there. All right, Annette. I will definitely be telling my class members about you as well. Thanks a lot for coming on the show. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Steve. Thanks for having me. I look forward to seeing you soon.

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Hope you enjoyed this episode. Now, if you are looking to make a textile based product in the United States, go check out Annette’s website over at shemakesproducts.com. More information about this episode, go to mywifequitterjob.com slash episode 536. And once again, this is the last call for tickets to the Seller Summit 2024. If you want to hang out in person in a small intimate setting, develop real relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs and learn a ton, then come to my event. Go to sellersummit.com.

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If you are interested in starting your own ecommerce store, head on over to mywifecoderjob.com and sign up for my free 6-day mini course. Just type in your email and are sent to the course right away. Thanks for listening.