While recently speaking with a respected voice in the branded merchandise industry, I explained how we launched the Sparkpolo Distributor Portal, a platform developed from the ground up to support our fully custom apparel process. I explained how it helped our small team improve efficiency, manage more work and create a stronger foundation to scale.
His response: “Why don’t you share this experience? It could help other industry members, especially new and emerging brands thinking about building technology.”
That conversation made me reflect on why we needed to build our technology platform, what challenged us and what other growing suppliers may want to consider before building their own technology platform.
Why Waiting Wasn’t An Option
The branded merchandise industry is built on relationships. Distributors rely on suppliers they trust. Suppliers rely on strong distributor partnerships. Clients rely on distributors to guide them to the right products and solutions.
But establishing trust and building relationships takes time. As a company grows, those relationships also need systems and processes behind them so the team can support more opportunities with consistency.
At Sparkpolo, we entered the industry with a specific challenge. Fully custom apparel is exciting, but it’s not simple. Every project involves design requests, artwork files, revisions, approvals, pricing, order details, production updates, shipping details and documentation.
Siva Kandaswamy
Founder/CEO, Sparkpolo
In the beginning, much of our process was manual. We used email, shared files, spreadsheets and internal notes to keep projects moving. It worked when the volume was smaller, but we quickly realized it wouldn’t support long-term growth.
As a startup, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting until everything was perfect. We needed a more scalable digital foundation, not because technology sounded impressive, but because the process needed to be streamlined.
Learning Before Building
For our first two years in the industry, we focused on learning.
We wanted to understand distributors, their expectations, how projects moved, where bottlenecks occurred and how our fully custom apparel process fit into the existing workflow. If we had built technology too early, we may have built around assumptions instead of real needs.
Even after two years, we still had assumptions. No system is ever 100% perfect at launch. But by then, we felt we understood nearly 75% of the real workflow, and the remaining 25% could only be learned through real use and feedback.
Focus & Commitment Drive The Process
One of the biggest lessons we learned is that technology development can’t be delegated entirely to the tech team. The business team has to clearly communicate its operations, workflow, customer journey and long-term vision so the technology supports the way the business actually works.
At Sparkpolo, that meant mapping the full customer journey and listening closely to distributors, internal designers, production teams and every stakeholder connected to the workflow.
Technology is only useful when it supports the internal team and improves the customer experience. That requires ongoing commitment throughout development. Spending consistent time with the tech team, reviewing progress, answering questions and challenging assumptions can prevent unnecessary friction later.
What Changed After Launch
We learned that adoption of the technology doesn’t always happen the way we expect.
Some distributors jumped in right away and managed projects through the portal from start to finish. At the same time, some distributors preferred to stay away from the portal because they’re already managing several projects and learning another process takes time. This is where patience and perseverance become important. We focused on onboarding, education and showing how the portal could support their business, not just ours.
Over the past six months, this approach has helped us onboard more than 100 distributors. During the same period, we created several hundred design projects and thousands of design concepts through a more organized process.
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For our designers, the impact has been meaningful. They spend less time searching for missing information and more time thinking creatively. In many cases, they begin with nearly all required project details, logos, artwork files, colors, product direction and client notes organized in one place.
Our internal design QC process is smoother now. When a design is ready, we can review it, assign it, share it with the distributor, track comments, request revisions and manage approvals with just a few clicks.
The production handoff has improved as well. Our factory receives the final approved artwork, production files and distributor feedback in a more organized way. This reduces the risk of communication gaps or wrong files being shared manually.
The Reality Of Implementation
With all these advantages, building technology hasn’t been perfect.
Some distributors didn’t want to go through a new process. Certain system glitches slowed us down. Some enhancement requests blocked the speed we wanted. Those moments can be frustrating, but they’re part of implementation.
One mistake we made early was trying to make the workflow too rigid. We wanted every step to follow a clear protocol, which made sense from a process and quality-control perspective. But as an emerging supplier, we also learned that growing businesses need flexibility. When challenges arise in the workflow, a temporary workaround solution may be needed with the technology before implementing a proper fix.
Lessons For Emerging Suppliers
For suppliers and emerging brands thinking about technology, these are the lessons I would share from our experience:
- Learn the industry first. Understand the people, relationships and how your product or service fits.
- Document your real pain points. Identify repeated tasks, bottlenecks and manual steps slowing your growth.
- Explore existing tools before building. A platform that gets close to your needs may save time and cost.
- Don’t compromise on the foundation if your workflow truly requires something different.
- Build structure but leave room for flexibility. A rigid system may look good on paper, but growing businesses need a way to handle real-world exceptions without losing important protocols.
- Don’t build too early. Build when you understand your users, workflow and operational needs.
- Choose a long-term technology partner. Technology is ongoing, not a one-time launch.
- Be patient during implementation. Expect bugs, feedback, resistance, workarounds and continuous improvement.
The Future
We’re still early in our journey. Sparkpolo launched in this industry only three years ago, and the portal isn’t perfect. We continue to refine the workflow, improve instructions, simplify steps and listen to distributor feedback. Our progress has been meaningful because technology has helped us scale more mindfully.
The merch industry will always be built on relationships, trust and service. Technology shouldn’t change that. If anything, it should help us protect those values as we grow.
That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far.
Kandaswamy is founder and CEO of Sparkpolo.
