The article is from the perspective of the manufacturer: every decision about budget allocation is a trade-off and is not always right.
We – the manufacturers are often thought that “just need to do the right technique, the best, the most expensive or in short, the best product”. But in reality, production is where everything collides with reality. It is where money turns into raw materials, into errors, into downtime and into pressure on progress, quantity, quality. And it is where if the budget is not enough, the product cannot be born. And it cannot survive for long.
Having a good, high-quality product in hand – not necessarily having a market
I clearly remember a product we were very proud of: a line of high-quality art paper gift boxes for Tet, made from recycled materials, hand-assembled, meticulously folded in every fold, every layer of ink. The design team was very dedicated. The workshop prepared carefully. The production unit packaged each stage separately. When holding it in hand, everyone praised it. But then what? We didn’t sell as expected.
Because at that time, we thought: once the product was released, it was done. The product was beautiful enough, well-groomed enough, it would “speak to the market” by itself. But no. Beautiful does not mean easy to sell. And the most painful thing was when we discovered: the product was good but there was no budget to test it, no money to test it in a small market, and no funds to remake the next batch if it needed to be edited. We had spent too much budget on “perfection the first time”.
Manufacturing requires more than money, it also requires cash flow flexibility
Manufacturing is different from prototyping. All decisions must be specific: what raw materials, how much to get, when to pay, how many workers, how many hours per shift, what percentage of defects are acceptable, how to handle damaged goods. Every choice comes with a budget. And most mistakes are to spend all the budget on “launching” without considering “post-launch processing”.
In reality, the production budget should be divided into several layers: prototyping – trial production – main production – proofing – adjustment – finishing. But most business owners only see one line: “production costs”. And when the budget is all in the third layer (main production), any adjustment in the fourth step (proofing) is a “financial blow”.
I once had to choose between two options: accept early delivery but the printed color was 5% off, or reprint the entire batch of paper in 2 days before Tet – costing nearly 40 million more, and the customer was not sure to agree to postpone the delivery date. In the end, we chose to reprint, to maintain our long-term reputation. But then, the business realized: not because the product was bad, but because the budget was not flexible, so every decision was painful.
Budget allocation in production is a continuous problem
There is no separation between “production” and “after”. Because if the product is good but there is no money to display it properly, to transport it safely, to take pictures according to the concept – then the product will be “cut off” before it can run. A beautiful shirt, but with a crooked label and wrinkled bag, is also easily undervalued.
Therefore, a producer not only needs to do things “technically right”, but also needs to know how to make room for budgets that are “different” but “just as important”. One must learn how to make a product that is just good enough within an allowable budget so that the rest can survive. And this is something that took me, a person who lived in a factory for 12 years, a long time to understand.
Make what you want, or what the market needs?
Many products die not because of poor quality, but because no one understands them to choose them. We once made a very smart recycled packaging line that could be folded many times, saving space and being reused. But the cost of creating the mold was too high. With an order of 1,000 boxes, the cost exceeded the customer’s profit by double. And then the product sat on the sample shelf forever.
We are heartbroken to make something really cool. But consumers don’t need something “really cool” if it doesn’t solve their problems. The market needs a product that is affordable, easy to use, and easy to experience. To produce that, budget should not be a “limit to creativity” but a “reasonable map for creativity to survive”.
From the maker to the one who lives with the product
I no longer see the product as something “I make and then sell”. I see it as a living creature that if I can nurture it, it will live, if I force it too much, it will die on the way. And to nurture it, I have to know the limits, know how to choose. Know how to accept some imperfect angles to ensure that the product is born and matures within the allowed budget.
I believe: doing production is learning how to take responsibility. And the budget is where I learn that most deeply. Without a sufficient and correct budget, no matter how good the worker is, the product will just be an unfinished dream.
