Is there a minimum financial commitment?

There is no strict minimum order volume (MOV) requirement to enter Hula Global’s Co-Pilot program. However, there is some level of financial commitment. Most of the time, the program has minimum order requirements.

The program has been designed to allow small brands to financially commit to a program without having to worry about high-volume requirements. This means that you are likely to have some financial commitment before joining the program; however, this commitment does not come in the form of a large bulk order.

Most new and emerging sustainable fashion brands struggle to meet standard minimum order quantity requirements imposed by large-scale manufacturers. Until now, most manufacturers needed large-scale orders, often tens of thousands of units, to even permit a new brand, boutique label, or independent designer to enter the world of mass production.

By removing the minimum order quantity requirement, the Co-Pilot program allows brands to produce, and by doing so, it becomes much less of a barrier to entry for new and emerging brands.

While there is no hard minimum order quantity, you must still comply with certain minimums for SKUs and fabric. These types of minimums are not determined arbitrarily by Hula Global; they are responsive to fabric suppliers, production feasibility, and quality control.

All fabric mills, for instance, set their own minimum yarn requirements by color and type of fabric. These minimums can impact the total cost of production if your brand intends to produce across a wide variety of colors or with very specific types of fabric.

Likewise, SKU minimums are used to ensure production is sustainable and not to compromise quality and consistency.

Especially for the Co-Pilot Program, SKU and fabric minimums are not the only important financial considerations; there is also the MOV surcharge, which starts from about 12,000 USD.

This is not a penalty fee; rather, it is a structural mechanism that allows the factories to accept low-volume orders while covering their fixed operating costs. In classical manufacturing, these fixed costs would be distributed across very large orders.

In your Co-Pilot, since order quantities are much smaller, the MOV surcharge is a way to address that gap so that the factories prioritize your order while maintaining their operational viability.

Many factors can lead to variability of surcharges. These include the type of garment being produced, the intricacies of the design, the number of styles being produced, and the factory assigned to the order. There are some textiles that are considered more advanced and will take more design minutes, require more design minutes, and will have more workflow surcharges, like technical apparel, tailored suits, and great detail designs. Standard apparel that does not require as many minutes of design work will tend to have smaller surcharges.

A final consideration that you have to take into account is that every purchase order has a fixed surcharge. In the case of very small orders, surcharges become a significant portion of the cost of each garment.

When you order a larger amount of garments, the average cost of each garment is reduced because the surcharge is spread over more units. For this reason, many brands efficiently plan their orders to take advantage of this.

On top of the MOV surcharge, other regular production-related expenses that you will have to factor in could include fabric costs, sampling fees, pattern-making charges, tech pack development if needed, labeling and packaging, shipping, and import duties.

These are not unique to the Co-Pilot program but represent the overall financial commitment of having your own clothing line produced.

To the first-time founder, this financial structure may seem daunting at first; however, it is still a great deal more affordable and flexible than traditional manufacturing routes.

Rather than needing massive upfront capital, brands can start with smaller production runs while still accessing high-quality factories and professional production support.

One more advantage of the Co-Pilot program is its transparency and predictability. You will not have to deal with any hidden fees or think about how prices can suddenly be raised or not be raised at all, or what your supplier might or might not be willing to do. You will know what your financial entree looks like before you do it.

From a strategic point of view, the Co-Pilot program is best suited for brands that are interested in moving from the sampling phase to the phase of bulk production, but haven't yet reached the stage where they feel ready to do so on a large scale.

Therefore, if the brand is still in the stage of creating an idea or the very early stage of creating a prototype, it might be necessary to improve the design first before moving to the stage of production and the expenses associated with it. However, if the brand is ready to manufacture professionally, then it can do so.

In the end, while there is no minimum volume requirement, there is a minimum financial commitment with the fabric/SKU minimums and the MOV Surcharge, which has a base of $12,000 USD. This model is intended to be accessible to smaller brands while still keeping manufacturing realities in mind.

Overall, the Co-Pilot program gets rid of traditional high-volume barriers, only to be met with another system of financial arrangements. However, if one is ready for fabric minimums, production costs, and the surcharge of the MOV charge, the Co-Pilot program is a fantastic opportunity to move forward in establishing a scalable and professionally built fashion brand.

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