The ToiBocks Blog

Posts Tagged ‘made in the usa’

I’ve seen quite a few articles and emails about products that are NOT made in the USA.  Everyone wants to support companies that are ‘made in the USA’ and for big companies like Colgate, I completely agree.  There’s no reason why Colgate cannot have their factory here in the US to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

I decided, as a small business entrepreneur, to bring to light how incredibly difficult it is for an inventor to actually start out getting “Made in the USA.”

For me, I still have yet to find a wood mill that can make my product.  So far I had two that said they could, but the samples were not up to snuff (the drawer wouldn’t even come out of the ToiTissue sample they made).  Then I found a guy in Ohio, only to find out he will have them made in China and import them to his wood mill.  I have posted requests for quotes on wood manufacturing websites, I’ve google searched, I’ve inquired everywhere I could think, but no luck.

You can find all kind of websites that will tell you what products are made here, but not very many that will tell you who can make your own stuff here…

Coincidentally (or maybe not if you believe in the law of attraction), I sat down to write this blog post just before I left to go to the International Lingerie show in Vegas.  I couldn’t get the Word press interface to work so I postponed the post.  Then at the show I met a guy who is friends with a wood worker who is interested in making my product.  We’re talking now and who knows where it will go but until I achieve my goal of having ToiBocks “made in the USA” I’m going to keep trying.

Then the question becomes, can I afford to be “Made in the USA”?  Feedback on the ToiBocks products now is that they’re a little ‘pricey.’ If I can work out manufacturing here I know it will be more expensive than in China so I would have to raise my prices.  I would have more ‘buy American’ customers, but how many ‘I can’t afford that’ customers would I lose?

Ah the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur…