Finding the key partners to work with can make or break your venture. After thousands of conversations with aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s one of the most common obstacles and risks holding folks back from pursuing their idea. So – we asked some of the smartest, most resourceful entrepreneurs in the community to share their lessons and insights to help inspire and educate the next great set of entrepreneurs.
Veronica Terrazas Konecke
What I knew starting out was that the relationship with our manufacturer would be a key to our success. Having worked for a manufacturer of diagnostic devices early in my career, I knew firsthand how important that relationship is and how important working with the right manufacturer can be. Prior to Aloisia Beauty, my husband and I had partnered with Korean Manufacturers of Medical products for our previous business. Over the years, we had experience with different manufacturing companies and had built a relationship of trust with an excellent network and with a few companies. This is how we were able to secure a partnership with one of the leading skincare labs in Korea. Read more>>
Kendall Koehler
I had to find a manufacturer for hair extensions. Unfortunately, our industry can have some gatekeeping so it took me quite some time to find out how to even tackle this. I flew to Hong Kong for one of the larger business to business beauty shows. I scheduled with multiple vendors/factories until I found one I felt comfortable working with. From there we began a year long journey of testing hair extension weight, hair types, lengths, etc. It was a long year. My sister and I both were the guinea pigs, so to speak. We finally came to the final product a year later. I am now the only one with this particular extension. It is the heaviest I-tip on the market at 2.2 grams. Read more>>
Jan Wolbrecht
As if Launching into a new career field isn’t scary or hard enough, imagine you want to make clothes. Oh, not just for yourself but for any (and many) women who carry self defense tools, mainly a firearm. I’m not a sewer so I didn’t even have that to draw upon. I had an idea and a sketch and that was it. How would it all come together was where I need to find the right the right manufacturer who could help me. In an age where the internet is your library or yellow pages, it didn’t seems to help. That was shocking! Most manufacturers, for apparel, it’s called cut and sew, aren’t necessarily listed, at least 5-6 years ago when I was searching for an American “small batch” manufacturers. Read more>>
Tasha Dixon
To find vendors I would research companies that were close to me so I can cut down shipping cost . I’m getting started there wasn’t as many as there are today . So it wasn’t that hard for me to find a regular manufacturer. For my vessels in the beginning it was amazon and then I upgraded to a more upscale vendor that I designed my product line after. For my other materials like fragrance oils , I got samples of scents that I liked and tested them out to see what the market liked . After that I narrowed down the scents I wanted and it helped that the vendor had other materials I needed as well. The issue is that some vendors discontinue some items so I have to go searching for a replacement at times . Read more>>
Sade Perkins
My goal is to promote local black farmers, gardeners and entrepreneurs at our market. Finding black farmers and gardeners with consistent produce in a mega city has been a huge challenge. I’ve searched and forged relationships with roadside fruit sellers, cattle ranchers and farmers as far away as Huntsville Tx and local home gardeners. Read more>>
Leia Perez
When I first decided to create the Wedding Wish project, I knew that this would be a bit more work than simply booking vendors and planning a wedding. Not only did we need vendors who would be willing to donate their time and services for free. We needed local philanthropists in the wedding industry during a time when many businesses were struggling to survive being an entrepreneur in the midst of a pandemic. Read more>>