IN2 co-founder Ken Buras recently sat down with LaunchBoom CEO Mark Pecota to talk through one of the biggest reasons product launches fail: manufacturing. Many products fail, not because they couldn’t sell the product, but because they couldn’t make it.
Ken’s spent 46 years in product development, sourcing, and manufacturing, and the conversation pulls that experience into a practical 7-step process, including:
- Becoming the expert in your own product before you ever talk to a factory, including what to document and how much you actually need to know up front
- Researching which countries and regions specialize in your product before searching for individual factories
- Comparing total cost, not just unit price, since shipping, tariffs, and minimum order requirements often flip the math on where to manufacture
- Vetting a factory’s communication and red flags before you ever send money, then verifying in person before you commit real money
- Understanding what’s actually negotiable as a first-time buyer, and what isn’t, when it comes to payment terms and order quantities
It’s the kind of advice that only comes from doing this work for real, and a good look at the thinking IN2 brings to every sourcing and manufacturing project we take on.