Businesses rethinking outsourcing due to rising costs, supply chain challenges, and shifting consumer values
Have you ever walked into a local shop, picked up a product, and caught yourself wondering not just what it is, but where it came from? Was it made down the street in a workshop you’ve never noticed, or did it cross continents, changing hands in warehouses and shipping yards before landing here? For many small businesses, the truth lies in a less glamorous but very real concept: outsourcing.
Partnering with another company to produce goods has been a practical way to meet demand without draining resources. It has never been truer than in an inflationary economy, like the one we are living through right now!
But the marketplace is shifting. Tariffs, shipping delays, and changing consumer expectations have forced a re-evaluation. Shoppers aren’t just buying the object; they are buying the story behind it. Provenance, sustainability, and authenticity have become part of the brand proposition. And in this climate, more owners are asking: What if we made it ourselves?
From a marketing perspective, that question goes far beyond operations. The balance will always be between how much of the story will matter and how much sense the economics will make. It’s about brand positioning, market differentiation, and emotional resonance with consumers. Every choice in production becomes part of a brand’s narrative, whether or not it’s explicitly advertised. Locally made isn’t just a label, it’s a value signal that can influence purchase decisions, create repeat customers, and strengthen brand equity.
Small Medium Enterprises (SME) can be quite expensive and time consuming, but in the case of our Province, there is an entire directory of verified businesses that do build local products (buylocal.novascotia.ca).
Shifting to in-house production comes with two unavoidable considerations. There’s Operational: the cost of technology, equipment, and expertise and Strategic: how to meet or exceed competitors’ speed, quality, and customer experience while absorbing that cost. This is when decisions become less about logistics and more about brand strategy. Are you aiming to reposition your business? Are you seeking to appeal to a more loyal, values-driven customer base? Or is the priority increasing margins in the long term by controlling production? All these questions need to be answered and have been through a pandemic that upended our local and global economies.
Sustainability in a business is crucial to the health of a business not just short term, but through all of those periods of economic slowdown that are not unavoidable these days.
For SMEs, the stakes are high. With tight margins and tougher competition from larger, more adaptable rivals, any delays or product issues risk damaging customer trust—something that’s hard and costly to rebuild once lost.
As someone who has spent years helping brands craft their stories and stand out in crowded markets, I can tell you this: production decisions are marketing decisions. How you make something can be as powerful as what you make. The right move can elevate your positioning, deepen customer loyalty, and give you messaging that cuts through the noise. The wrong move can create an expensive story no one wants to face.
In a marketplace obsessed with speed, convenience, and novelty, adaptability isn’t just an advantage; it is survival.
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