A Lara Guevara YouTube video advising direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands on preparing for Chinese New Year (CNY) factory shutdowns. The speaker presents five case-study scenarios (home decor, accessories, wellness, furniture, apparel), describes specific supply-chain projects used to mitigate each risk (pre-CNY procurement, second-sourcing, cash-smart ordering, logistics prep, post-CNY capacity planning), and reports concrete outcomes (e.g., maintained 95% fulfillment, avoided $250k lost revenue, freed $200k cash, avoided 80% of delays, cut lead times from 12 to 7 weeks). The video closes with a CTA for a live workshop on December 11 at 7pm EST / 3pm PST that shares templates and playbooks.
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Every year, Chinese New Year hits DTC brands like a freight train. Factories shut down for two to four weeks and some suppliers take even longer to recover. And if you don't plan properly, you're left with suck outs, missed sales and cash locked in slow moving inventory. But here's the truth. CNY doesn't have to be a disaster. It can actually be a chance to maximize your supply chain if you prepare the right way. And in this video, I'll walk you through five real scenarios of brands facing CNY challenges, the supply chain projects we run to fix them and how you can apply the same strategies this season. Now a home decor brand placed their last POS in early January. By the time goods arrived, factories were already closing. There SKUs missed the cutoff and the brand was stolen stocked with six weeks of stackouts during Q1 the founder said, we didn't realize that the cutoff was that early. We assumed we had until February. So we built a Pre CNY procurement project. 1. We collected factory cut off dates in November. 2. We shifted PO placement to December with adjusted lead times number 3. We used PERT inventory planning to model best and worst case demand through March. Now the brand had buffer stock to last through factory shutdowns. Instead of 6 weeks of stock outs. They maintained 95% fulfillment rates in Q1 and that alone protected 120k in revenue. Next scenario, A small accessories brand relied on one Chinese factory and after CNY the factory did not reopen. Workers never came back and their hero SKU was gone and they scrambled for three months to find a replacement. The founder said, I didn't think my supplier would disappear. We had been working together for years to solve it. We ran a second source project. We identified backup suppliers in Vietnam and Taiwan. In November we ran sampling before CNY to pre qualify and we kept contracts and pricing ready to shift volume instantly. This ensured the brand was not tied to just suppliers fate and when the factory didn't reopen, they shifted 60% of orders to Vietnam within 6 weeks. Sales stayed on track and they avoided 250k in lost revenue. Another scenario, a wellness brand over ordered before CNY to play it safe but they tied up 500k in excess stock which hurt their cash flow. In Q1 the founder told us, we survived CNY but then we couldn't afford ads. We launched a cash smart CNY planning project by using ABC inventory analysis to prioritize a movers. Then we ordered B and C SKU in smaller batches to avoid overstock. We negotiated partial shipments 50% pre CNY, 50% post CNY. Now these balance our stock protection with cash flexibility. They got their pre cny spend by 200k while still meeting demand and that freed up budget for ads which generated 300k in Q1 sales. Another story that I wanted to share is a furniture brand shipped containers right before cny ports were clogged, couriers were overbooked and their shipments sat for weeks. Customers were left waiting and CST gets exploded. The founder said that we thought we made the deadline but we didn't account the logistics chaos as a solution. We run a logistics prep project. We booked space with forwarders as early as December. We diversified shipments between two ports and we shifted 20% of SKU to air freight for higher priority orders. This de risked their shipping plan and this avoided 80% of delays and cut CS complaints in half. Customer received products within promised timeline and Protecting brand trust Next problem we encountered is that factories don't come back at 100% after CNY. One apparel brand placed POS right after the holiday, but production capacity was only 60%. Orders took three months instead of six weeks and the founder said we planned for the shutdown but not for the recovery. We ran a post CNY capacity project which secured factory production slots before the holiday. We added a smaller suppliers to handle the spillover and then staggered reorders so not everything was bottlenecked at once. This avoided the post holiday backlog and they cut lead times from 12 weeks back to 7. That meant faster restocks and an extra 150k in sales recovered in Q2. Now let's recap the pre CNY move pos earlier vendor vanish Always have a second source Cash crunch Order smart, not just heavy logistics jam. Book early and diversify post CNY Secure production slots in advance. Every CNY problem has a supply chain project that fixes it and the impact is not just fewer headaches, it's hundreds of thousands in protected sales and freed up cash flow. On December 11th at 7pm EST 3pm PST, I'm hosting a live workshop on how to maximize Chinese New Year for your brand. I'll share project templates for pre CNY planning, vendor backup, qualification, cash flow balancing and logistics playbook. If you've ever been burned by Chinese New Year shutdowns, stock outs, supplier varnish, shipping delays, this is the workshop that will finally give you control. Click the link below, save your spot and I'll see you live on December 11th.
