Some expansion is required on last month's topic. I agree that a startup company shouldn't try to do too much too fast. Typically they can't afford to, even if they wanted to. Indeed, companies of any size need to stick to what they do best. In the case of a product manufacturing startup, the purpose is to manufacture and be profitable. The core competence needs to be the efficient, profitable building of quality products.

Technacraft has no desire to extrude aluminum, build solar cells, manufacture circuit boards, anodize aluminum, or do the hundred other things that other people can do more efficiently. We do want to grow a manufacturing company and a competence in our market place. I believe that requires bringing those things in-house which allow us to define product integrity and to incrementally increase our quality.

We could have contracted out our entire product manufacture overseas, had the product shipped to our sales office and warehouse, and sold them. Many entrepreneurs do this and make a lot of a money. Sometimes when things get crazy and my spirits sag, I wish I had done just that. But that is not our goal. We want to build things.

Our experience is in design, engineering, and manufacturing with absolutely no experience in sales and marketing to the gift and accessories market. We have to go outside for this expertise until we learn it and become good at it, or until we can afford to hire someone who has the required skills.

We are fortunate in that our product is unique and, therefore, to some extent sells itself. If we were building a "me too" product then sales and marketing would be more important. We would need to take market share from someone to grow and expand.

There is no argument that sales and marketing are critical. Nothing happens until somebody sells something. We are learning as we go and, in the future, we will be much smarter about sales and marketing into our markets. Until then what to do? How does the entrepreneur sell his product?

Sales representatives are the answer. All industries have companies whose sole business is representing the manufacturer. In our industry there are hundreds of rep groups covering the country.

We located a person who has experience in our market and, for a very reasonable fee, provided us with a mailing list of rep groups across the nation. She also helped us produce our first professional catalog sheet. We then did a mailing to the sales organizations introducing our product and our company. We got a good response and talked to several people who were interested in carrying our line.

Remember that, while you are taking a risk by signing up people who you don't know, they too are taking a risk with you and your new product and company. They need to believe in your product and your ability to deliver.

Before you select the group or groups, you will need a rep agreement to be signed by you and the rep group. This agreement spells out what territory the group is responsible for, what the commission rate is, and when it gets paid. We specified in our agreement that the commission isn't due until the order is paid for.

Some reps expect payment of commission after shipment. This puts the entire risk of collection on you. If you specify that the rep doesn't get paid until the order is paid for, it gives them incentive to help collect late invoices, write more COD orders, and it helps your cash flow.

In addition to paying a commission, you will need to provide your sales representatives with samples and catalog sheets. This can get expensive. Don't be shy about charging for samples if you need to.

Before you sign up a sales group, ask to see a profile on them and call their references. As with anything, there are good ones and bad ones. You may have to hire several to get the right one in a given territory. Remember they work for you.

It is possible to sign up too many sales people too fast. One good sales company doing one major trade show can write a lot of orders for your product. If you need to grow slowly due to cash constraints, you may want to add territories slowly so as not to strain your capacity to deliver or to pay for raw material.

It is important to know what you and your company want to be when you grow up. Do those things you are good at, and find good sources for those things you can't or don't want to do. Learn that which you don't know, but want to or need to. Keep your sights on the goal -- and maintain your sense of humor.