The way the world produces, manufactures and purchases its products is constantly evolving. With the development of the internet as a global medium to for consumers and sellers, there is always some new website or service being developed to serve people. For my business plan I am developing a new line of high end backpacks and I have stumbled across a site that fits perfectly in this mold, Alibaba.com.
Alibaba.com connects people across the world with manufacturers in China, India, America and beyond. The goal of Alibaba is to connect up and coming businesses with companies who can help manufacture their products. A rising hat business can find different styles and producers who will compete to create your product for you and win your business.
The way Alibaba.com works is you search through thousands and thousands of companies across a host of industries and identify what you are looking to produce. For example if you are looking to produce your own line of clothing, specifically shirts, you can organize your results into clothing and individually look at companies. These companies each have a profile page with how big their operation is, the minimum you must purchase, pricing etc... From there the customer compares and looks at other prices to find that perfect company to produce their items. The customer will then contact the company and begin the production process. Turn around time here is usually a month or so but some manufacturers can do it in more/less time.
While Alibaba is an awesome outlet for up and coming businesses it also has its limitations. For instance most of the businesses only take orders of 1000 or more. If you're just starting out and have to order 1000 of something even if its just $5 that adds up quickly. So future consumers just need to be mindful because if they're looking to make small purchases Alibaba probably isn't the place for you. But it is a great place to get started with prices, connections and who knows what you'll find on there.
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