The New Instant Companies

Business 2.0:

In apparel, toys, sports equipment, electronics, motor vehicles — you name it — small but savvy new companies are wedging themselves into established industries, unburdened by the fixed costs of infrastructure past. They’re doing it with the help of resources never before available so cheaply to startups, like outsourced manufacturing, Internet-powered publicity, and robust design tools. To get to market fast, they farm out everything they can, from logistics and billing to sales and support. ‘This,’ says Timothy Faley, managing director of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, ‘is how the manufacturing moguls of the future are getting started.’

Of course, if you’re reading this magazine, chances are that like Van Dine, you’ve had an idea for a hit product. Maybe you didn’t quit your job to pursue it because you didn’t know the first thing about designing a prototype. Maybe you figured you could never come up with the scratch to hire overseas labor, buy advertising, and build a sales channel. Maybe you were just plain terrified by the thought of all the people you’d have to hire. Any more excuses? Here’s how the new class of manufacturing entrepreneurs is launching instant empires, and how you can too.

Read more of this excellent article.

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