Founder’s guide to sourcing
To find suppliers for your product, write a clear sourcing brief, search where makers of similar products already work, compare quotes against the same specification, and test with samples before you order. Source to Spec is a practical guide by product development strategist Cydney Mar, written for founders building consumer products for retail, TV and direct-to-consumer.
Published by Cydney Mar · Last updated:
You find suppliers for a product in four places: online wholesale platforms and supplier directories, trade shows, referrals from people in your industry, and sourcing agents. Cydney Mar’s advice in this guide is to decide what you are making before you look, because a precise brief gets precise quotes and filters out suppliers who cannot make it.
The search itself is the easy part. The expensive mistakes happen after it: choosing on price alone, skipping samples, or sending a vague brief that each supplier reads differently.
This is the order Cydney Mar recommends to founders. Each step gives the next one better information, which is why skipping ahead usually costs more than it saves.
Every source below can lead to a good supplier. They differ in speed, in what you learn quickly, and in what you must still verify yourself.
| Source | Best for | What you learn fast | What you still verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online wholesale platforms | Stock products, early price checks, dropshipping | Indicative prices, minimums and product range | That the business is real, sample quality, true lead times |
| Supplier directories | Building a longlist by category or region | Who makes your product type and where | Current capacity and whether they take small orders |
| Trade shows | Meeting factories and handling materials in person | Quality of finish, how a team communicates | Pricing and timelines in writing after the show |
| Referrals from your industry | Founders who want a supplier someone already trusts | How the supplier behaves on real orders | Fit for your product, which may differ from the referrer’s |
| Sourcing agents | Founders managing distance or language barriers | A shortlist matched to your brief | How the agent is paid and which factory makes your goods |
Definition
A product supplier is any business that provides the goods you sell: a manufacturer that makes them, or a wholesaler, distributor or dropshipping supplier that resells stock someone else made. In Source to Spec, Cydney Mar separates the two because the work is different. Reselling means choosing from a catalog. Developing your own product means specifying it, sampling it and having it made.
Decision
If you want to test demand fast with products that already exist, dropshipping suppliers on wholesale platforms are built for that; judge them on shipping times, product quality and returns.
If you want a product nobody else sells, you need a manufacturer, a specification and samples. That is where Cydney Mar’s pathway, and the rest of this guide, applies. Read how to find a manufacturer.
Published figures that show why a careful process matters. Each number belongs to the source named beneath it, not to Cydney Mar.
80%
of one founder’s second order from a manufacturer arrived defective, after a good first order.
50/50
An example payment split: 50% upfront, 50% after receiving the shipment.
£30 to £200
Typical freelance tech pack price, most under £100, depending on complexity.
10 days or 10 weeks
The gap in sample arrival that tech pack quality can decide, as framed by one tool maker’s retest.
Finding a manufacturer follows the same logic as finding any supplier, with more at stake: samples, minimum orders, quality control and, for some products, compliance. Decide between domestic and overseas production based on your quantities, budget and how fast you need to iterate.
How to find a manufacturer for your productA tech pack is the instruction document factories use to quote, sample and produce. Cydney Mar calls a clear, professional tech pack the difference between a sample that is right the first time and months of expensive back-and-forth.
See the tech pack format, page by pageCydney Mar has spent more than 45 years in product and fashion and handled over $300M in global product sales across retail, TV and direct-to-consumer. Her Concept-to-Reality Pathway puts finding suppliers third, after product clarity and the right prototypes, because most founders, in her words, do not fail because the idea is bad; they fail because they take the right steps in the wrong order.
Stage 1 of 6
Define what you’re making, and who it’s for.
Stage 2 of 6
Develop the right samples and cut costly rework.
Stage 3 of 6
Vetted for quality, communication, and reliability.
Stage 4 of 6
Build for real profit and scalability, and learn to calculate costs properly.
Stage 5 of 6
Finalize specs and systems for consistent manufacturing.
Stage 6 of 6
Take your product to market, through retail, DTC or TV, and grow.
Start with a one-page sourcing brief, then search directories, trade shows and referrals for suppliers that already make products like yours. Contact several, request quotes against the same brief, and order samples before committing. Cydney Mar’s Concept-to-Reality Pathway places supplier selection after product clarity and prototypes, so you approach suppliers knowing exactly what you need them to make.
More in the FAQDropshipping suppliers hold stock and ship existing products under your store, so you look for them on wholesale and dropshipping platforms and judge them on shipping times, product quality and returns. That is different from developing your own product. If you want a product nobody else sells, you need a manufacturer, samples and a specification instead of a catalog listing.
More in the FAQA manufacturer makes the product; a supplier is anyone who provides it to you, which can be the manufacturer, a wholesaler, a distributor or a trading agent. Every manufacturer you buy from is a supplier, but not every supplier makes anything. When you develop an original product, you usually want to deal with the factory itself or with an agent who manages it openly.
More in the FAQContact enough suppliers to compare real quotes, which in practice means a shortlist of several rather than one. Some will not reply, some will not fit your quantities, and some quotes will not match your specification. Comparing at least a few answers to the same brief shows you what a fair price, lead time and level of communication look like for your product.
More in the FAQFind a manufacturer for your product by preparing a brief, searching factories that already make similar items, requesting comparable quotes, ordering samples, checking references and starting with a small first order. The order matters: founders who sample before they have a clear specification often pay for rework. A tech pack makes every later step faster and more accurate.
More in the FAQThere is no single official format, but most factories expect the same sections: a cover page, technical flat sketches, a bill of materials, points of measure, a size grading table, construction details, colorways, and label and packaging instructions. Keeping one revision number and date on every page prevents the factory from working from an outdated version.
More in the FAQFreelance tech packs commonly cost £30 to £200, with most under £100, according to Fabrickly’s 2026 comparison of tech pack companies. Price rises with product complexity, number of sizes and number of components. Fabrickly also reported that in its own test 17% of results were excellent, 67% workable and 33% wasted money, so quality varies widely.
More in the FAQCydney Mar names four: jumping into sampling without clarity, choosing suppliers based on guesswork, ignoring margins until it is too late, and trying to figure it out as they go. Each one costs time and money, and each is addressed by a specific stage of her Concept-to-Reality Pathway.
More in the FAQCydney Mar helps founders take consumer products for retail, TV and direct-to-consumer from idea to production through her Concept-to-Reality Pathway.
Published by Cydney Mar