Your Brand Is Losing Money You Can Save

Market Intelligence

Your Brand Is Losing Money You Can Save

Most brands bleed hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on mistakes that are completely avoidable. And the kicker? These aren’t flashy “big failures” you notice, they’re hidden leaks in your process quietly draining your profits.

If your brand is doing US$ 1 million – 10 million in revenue, here are the four most common culprits I see:

Over-development that never ships

We’ve all been there: you sample six versions of a product you only plan to sell once, develop 20 styles for a drop and release eight, or redo fits because the brief wasn’t clear in the first place.

Every extra round of samples eats up:

· Time

· Fabric

· Design energy

…and slows down your launches.

At scale, this “extra development” quietly costs more than your material spend. The worst part? Most brands don’t even realise it. It’s like flushing money down the drain while waiting for a perfect SKU that may never exist.

Air freight rips your margins

Here’s a secret: most air freight costs aren’t driven by urgent demand, they’re driven by poor planning.

Reactive sampling → delays → rushed production → missed launch windows → panic freight.

One air shipment can erase the profit on an entire SKU. I’ve seen brands lose £15k–£40k per season to this invisible leak, all because the system was too reactive.

Supplier mismatch

A factory can be amazing at basic jersey. Fleece? They crush it. Outerwear? Spot on. Technical finishes? Maybe. But not all at once. When your product complexity exceeds supplier capability:

· QC issues rise

· Delays stack

· Remakes occur

· Customer returns spike

The real margin leak isn’t in the cost of goods; it’s in inconsistency and returns. Picking the wrong supplier for your product is like buying a sports car to pull a trailer, you’re asking for trouble.

Unplanned MOQs & opportunistic buying

Some brands buy more than they need, buy too late, or shop without committing to a range plan. The result?

· Markdowns

· Dead stock

· Storage costs

· Overproduction

A poor range plan can cost you more than a bad supplier ever will.

The punchline

Most margin loss doesn’t happen on the factory floor. It happens in the decisions you make, before production even starts.

Fix the system, and your margins rise automatically. No supplier changes, no magic hacks - just smarter, more disciplined decision-making.

(Anthony Mellor is Chief Operating Officer, Onflair™ Group)

The real margin leak isn’t in the cost of goods; it’s in inconsistency and returns. Picking the wrong supplier for your product is like buying a sports car to pull a trailer, you’re asking for trouble.

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