Leverage

My first venture in manufacturing was in making handcrafted soaps.

My letter was featured in Entrepreneur magazine, and I told readers that I am looking for distributors.  The response was great!  It was overwhelming!  I got a lot of orders!  Then I got repeat orders! That was the best part!

But I got a problem.   I can't  fulfill the demand.  Why?  Because I had limited financial resources needed to hire people to help in manufacturing and delivering the soaps on time.  Making handcrafted soaps is labor intensive.  So sales dramatically declined!  Because I forgot to leverage!...or I was scared of leverage.  I fear that my formula and other trade secrets may get stolen.  I should have made a system for the manufacturing process that will ensure my secrets will be kept secret and at the same time ensure the quality of the soaps.  I've learned from that mistake and it had cost me a lot relatively!

Now I've learned to leverage.  I am now using the basic strategy of 'subcontracting.'

Even if we are micro-entrepreneurs, it doesn't necessarily mean that we must 'micro-manage!'  Maybe at first, during the start-up level, but then again, even during start-up a little help from others is actually a big help!


Learn to leverage and develop a system that will enable our business to run in auto-pilot during normal condition.