Your hands are tied. You are in the dark. You are told to stop asking questions. You are prevented from leaving. You could try to escape, but it feels too risky. Instead, you sit there. Anxious. Vulnerable. You don’t know what will happen next.
Being a hostage is a scary situation to be in. I know you probably have never been in an actual hostage situation (I really hope you haven’t), but you may have found yourself held hostage in a different context – held hostage by your manufacturer, agency, or patternmaker.
I hate to see brands who want to find a new factory or service provider get trapped into staying. The factory may have developed all the styles and won’t release the patterns or the technical designer may have only provided a PDF file that can’t be edited. Whether the situation is caused by simple oversight or downright criminal behavior, I don’t think it is the right way to do business.
I make it a priority to give my clients control of their brand’s technical details. I share the editable files, native formats, and patterns that can be imported into whatever software your current or new factory has. I enjoy answering your questions and sharing the process with you. I want you to have all the information you need to make confident decisions and find the right partners for your business (whether that is ultimately me or not).
You should be free to move around and be as involved in your brand as you like. You should be given a clear picture of what’s going on. You deserve to get answers to all your questions. You should be able to leave and find someone who is a better fit to work with without having to risk your whole business and start over. This is a better situation – you look at multiple options and make a decision. Confident. In control. You know what you are going to do next.
P.S. If you are being held hostage, reply to this email and let’s come up with a plan to safely get you out of there.