 why is it even important for us to figure out a strategies on packaging? Don't you just order from a manufacturer Wilson? Well it's important for you to get the different strategies because quality packaging is very expensive and requires very large orders and that means you can possibly be sitting on hundreds if not thousands of dollars on just packaging alone and we want to save you thousands of dollars with the DIY packaging in the very early stages before your business picks up. We want to test the market. We want to see if people are actually willing to pay you money for your food concept and if people are not doing that then why are you wasting thousands of dollars just on packaging alone? We don't want to do that and that's the reason why the strategies that I'm sharing with you today is so important. Now some of the pro tips is you need to be aware of the minimum order quantity otherwise known as MOQ. Do not order from well-known manufacturers because oftentimes their MOQ are in the hundreds if not thousands and that itself you're going to be sitting once again on hundreds if not thousands of dollars on just packaging alone. Get a quote first and compare all the prices from all the different manufacturers. Having said that just because I'm telling you not to order from your manufacturers right now doesn't mean you shouldn't know about their MOQs and also their pricing. You should definitely also note it down because this becomes an option for you when your product has been tested, when you finalized it and when people are ordering from you again and again. Also with these manufacturers what you can request is for free samples and oftentimes they will send you free samples on their dime so this is something you should also always ask for our free samples. Next pro tip is to don't customize your packaging yet guys. A lot of students they always reach out hey Wilson I really really want to make this experience really really great I want to make a kickass packaging I want to custom design this custom design that and do not do that until you have a hero product until your items are flying off the shelf until your DMs are exploded with orders you do not want to order custom packaging because it is expensive and unnecessary in this very early of your stage of your business wait until you wait to improve your packaging until your final product is ready when you have built that traction when you have a lot of DMs ordering from you again and again then we can think about custom packaging because by then you would have proper cash flow and you would have a demand that you know you can count on instead of just sitting on hundreds and hundreds of boxes at your home okay so what should you do instead Wilson don't order from these manufacturers don't order these big items what do I do start locally with your retail stores doesn't mean that they don't have good packaging places like Michaels dollar stores and craft stores have a lot of great packaging for you cheaper total cost because they don't have a minimum order quantity it's easy for pickup it's easy for testing by 10 by 20 by 50 of their packaging boxes and it would be a great place to start and I know for a fact you're going to be like well it's really expensive it is okay because the total cost will be cheaper and right now we're trying to test the market we weren't we were trying to go to the market with the least amount of investment that there is and that's the reason why go with these local stores and retail stores and they also have very cute packaging especially the dollar stores around you they have great stuff okay also the second place to look for packaging would be online retailers like Amazon or online packaging companies the thing that you do need to be aware of are the delivery dates because usually especially with what's going on right now there are a lot of shift in logistics some of the sample online retailers you can check these places out I find that they also have really great packaging solutions for you okay an example would be Uline versus Amazon so I was telling you that hey you know what when you're ordering from manufacturers they have big MLQs what does that look like for a bag like this I need to order a thousand of these bags at 30 cents yes per unit it is cheaper however with Amazon for the same bags I can order 50 bags instead of the thousand although the prices are almost double I'm okay with that to begin with because at then a day if I sell 25 30 units of my food concept and later on I realized that oh you know what I need to make a tweak I need to make changes I wouldn't be sitting on hundreds of bags just because we're pivoting just because we're changing our concept and these items would all go to waste and that's the reason why to begin with it is okay to order units at a higher cost because you won't be wasting it and in turn you're going to be saving more money to begin with so now it is your turn guys do the research and figuring out the best packaging for your product go to your local craft stores go to the dollar ramas and look at different packaging and once again I find them having a lot of different great solutions for you also prototype versions with affordable materials from your local stores okay this is once again your prototype only okay use the template that we're providing in the link below and throw in all the possible packaging solutions that you have found and their prices per unit