Quick question, I have helped a lot of small brands get going, whats the best way to find some reps who would get into something new and small?

Ain't that the truth. That's why more an more companies are doing in house reps, aleast from what I have seen here on Malakye. With shrinking markets, I think the old rep agency model will become out dated, just not as many accounts as there used to be, so reps have to carry a bunch of lines to make ends meet, so they my not give you the time that you need, especially if you are a start up. If you have a lot of buzz in the trades, it might be easier to get picked up by an established rep agency, if not, it's gona be a ruff ride. With the cost of gas and travel going up it is getting even harder for reps to make it. Then charging them for samples, that's like the nail in the coffin. Make sure you have a dedicated sales manager in house that is ready to do a lot of knocking on doors.

Edited by Bhawk - 02 Jun 2008 at 4:40pm

Smart reps work their lines on a simple time-in/ money-out basis.  If you have a line that needs to be pioneered then you need to find a way to buy a rep's time.  If your line was profitable enough to hire a full time salesman in a territory, then you could pay that person to just sell your product, but it is not cheap.

If not, you can make your line more attractive to a potential rep by offering increased commissions for new accounts, or one time "pioneering" payments in addition to commission for opening new accounts.  The cost of samples can also make or break the profitability of a line for a rep.  No one wants to have to sell for six months to pay off samples.  Samples don't have to be free to the rep -- there are other ways, but the rep cannot be "sample poor" and afford to spend time selling your product. 

The future of the independent rep is secure.  A good rep will sell more and cost a manufacturer much less than an in-house salesman.  Most companies that go in-house do it for sales control, more than profit.  It will cost a manufacturer more to hire 2 people in-house for $40k a year, than it will to pay an independent rep with 2 salesmen $200k a year in commission.  The problem for many manufacturers is that they are sharing that rep's time with other manufacturers that are making that rep money.  (I walk this line all the time.)

The bottom line is that small lines are looking for a cost effective way to get their product to market, and that is what a rep does best.  Now, that small line needs to give the rep a reason to take their product out of the bag when making sales calls.

If you wouldn't find it lucrative or a good use of your time, chances are others won't either.

Remember you get what you pay for.

But... if the line is solid and there is some great opportunity, it shouldn't be too hard to find willing Reps.

Hi Motivator. Unfortunately, like anyone who is good, she can pick and choose her clients and while she enjoys helping new entrants, there's a huge gamut of experience and knowledge -or lack thereof- amongst them. In a nutshell, I'm not "allowed" to refer anyone to her who hasn't read _the entrepreneur's guide to sewn product manufacturing_ and joined the forum and done some reading over at fashion-incubator.com . ::sorry::