Manufacturing – Control Your Own Destiny
Having spent many years in the sales distribution side of business, I was always curious what it would be like to either own or run a manufacturing plant. How are they able to consistently achieve profits, how do they stay in business in bad economic conditions and what do they do to control their own destiny to have such success especially if they have been in business for a long time.
I recently became involved with a manufacturing company who designs, builds and sells their product globally. From what I have been able to ascertain, the key to their success is that they have been at it a long time, have a recognized brand name and keep their costs in house. The other positive aspect is that they have a very low overhead and the product is unique enough and somewhat technical in nature so that it is difficult to copy or reproduce.
Being in business for a long time, producing the same thing and expanding your market are not easy things to do. Today’s competitive market place, new innovations and outsourcing products make it even more difficult for manufacturing companies to survive. Even back when these types of companies started out, the market was stacked against them like every other new business faces today.
The key to this manufacturer’s success is that they provided a need in the market when nothing else was available. They were also able to invent the product themselves and patent the product. They were also able to manufacture the product in house controlling all their costs. They were able to sell to a market place that was growing locally and globally.
Obviously, the management of this company is solid and wise decisions were made along the way for it to have continued success. There are many examples of companies like this and many factors have to go into a manufacturing company’s survival through tough economic times. The fundamentals of having control of your business remain the same and all you have to do is look to all the companies that don’t survive to see examples of what not to do.
This manufacturing company is looking towards the future; possibilities of expanding product lines and joint ventures. They see an abundance of opportunity and have new business ideas presented to them on a frequent basis. All this is well and good but they will proceed as always with a certain amount of caution because they never want to lose the control of their own destiny.