You get the email: “We need a quote on a custom dicut car carrying a trailer housing a whiskey bottle with fireworks shooting out.”
Or: “Can you create and print on custom spatulas for barbeque giveaway event and have them ready in 4 days?”
Or: “We need hand-assembly on 500 DM units with these complex specs and multiple pieces, each one will take 40 minutes?”
Your first instinct: Pass. This is a headache. Low margin. High complexity. Probably won’t happen anyway.
Here’s what I learned: Take it seriously anyway.
Yeah, some of these projects never materialize. The client changes direction. The budget disappears. The CEO has a new idea.
But here’s what happens to the ones you say “yes” to:
You become the guy who figures things out. The vendor who doesn’t just say “that’s hard.” You’re the person they call when they need something impossible.
And yeah, your recurring bread-and-butter work is important. Labels, pouches, standard cartons — that’s the business. But clients don’t remember you for knocking out easy jobs daily.
They remember you for the weird ones.
I’ve quoted on custom stuffed animals, athletic socks, complex hand-assembly work, video packaging, things that sound insane. Some happened. Some didn’t. The ones that did? Those projects taught us new skills, opened new doors, and built relationships with clients who think of us as problem-solvers, not order-takers.
The philosophy: If you only want easy jobs, you’re competing on price. If you’ll tackle anything, you’re a partner.
Take the weird ones seriously!
