Tengiva vs. Building Your Own Textile Marketplace

If you're a trade show organizer, fiber brand, certification body, or industry association considering a digital textile marketplace, you've likely explored building a custom solution. The appeal is understandable. Complete control, custom features, your exact vision. But here's the critical question: Is building from scratch the fastest path to delivering value to your network?

The answer depends on your goals, timeline, and resources.

Quick Decision Framework

Build Your Own Platform If:

• You have 12-18 months before you need to launch

• You have $150,000-$500,000+ in development budget

• You have in-house technical team for ongoing maintenance

• Your platform needs are fundamentally different from textile commerce

• You're comfortable with development risk and iteration cycles

Partner with Tengiva If:

• You need a platform live in 2-6 weeks

• You want to offer complete transaction capabilities (samples, stock, production quotes)

• You prefer annual investment of $12,500-$36,000 vs. six-figure build costs

• You want a fully managed service (we handle technical, you activate your network)

• You want to focus on your core business, not platform operations

Get Started with Tengiva →

The Build vs. Buy Reality for Textile Marketplaces

What "Building Your Own" Actually Means

When you decide to build a custom textile marketplace, here's what you're signing up for:

Development Phase (12-18 months):

• Requirements gathering and technical specification

• Platform architecture and database design

• Frontend and backend development

• Payment processing integration

• Shipping and logistics setup

• Security and compliance implementation

• User testing and iteration

• Bug fixes and refinements

Launch Requirements:

• Supplier onboarding system

• Product digitalization workflow (photography, specs, data entry)

• Sample fulfillment infrastructure

• Customer service protocols

• Marketing and traffic generation

• Analytics and reporting tools

Ongoing Operations:

• Server maintenance and hosting

• Security updates and patches

• Feature additions and improvements

• Bug fixes and troubleshooting

• Supplier support and onboarding

• Buyer customer service

• Platform updates and scaling

What Partnering with Tengiva Actually Means

Setup Phase (2-6 weeks):

• Define acceptance criteria for suppliers

• Choose platform model (featured section or standalone)

• Provide branding assets

• We build and configure everything

Launch:

• Platform goes live with full transaction capabilities

• Supplier onboarding handled by Tengiva

• Sample fulfillment managed by Tengiva

• Customer service handled by Tengiva

• Analytics dashboard active

Your Ongoing Role:

• Invite your network to join

• Integrate platform into your communications & core product offering

• Use insights to strengthen your core offerings

Feature Comparison: What You Actually Get

Get Started with Tengiva →

Cost Reality Check

Custom Build (5-Year Total Cost of Ownership):

• Development: $150,000-$500,000

• Annual hosting and infrastructure: $15,000-$50,000

• Annual maintenance and updates: $30,000-$75,000

• Annual operations team: $50,000-$150,000

• 5-year total: $625,000-$1,625,000+

Tengiva Partnership (5-Year Total Cost):

• Standalone Platform: $36,000/year × 5 = $180,000

• Operations team: Minimal (strategic oversight only)

• 5-year total: $180,000

The difference: $500K+ savings over 5 years, plus you're live in weeks instead of waiting 18-24 months for development to complete.

Making Your Decision

Choose Building Your Own If:

• You have multi-year timeline before needing results

• You have significant technical budget ($200K-$500K+)

• You have in-house development and operations team

• Your use case is fundamentally unique to textiles

• You're prepared for 18-24 month investment before ROI

• Platform development is core to your business strategy

Choose Tengiva Partnership If:

• You need platform live within weeks, not years

• You want predictable annual cost vs. uncertain development budget

• You want to focus on your core business (events, certification, fiber sales)

• You want complete transaction capabilities from day one

• You prefer managed service over building internal expertise

• You want your network using a proven platform while you activate

Next Steps

Ready to explore partnership?

• See platform demo. Visit existing communities →

• Review partnership models. Featured section vs. standalone platform →

• Still have some unanswered questions? Email us at partners@tengiva.com

Get Started with Tengiva →

Frequently Asked Questions

Can we customize the Tengiva platform for our brand?
Yes. Your platform is built on a customizable template where you can personalize your logo, colors, images, collections, and articles. Standalone platforms feature your exclusive branding, while featured sections within existing communities get dedicated branded space.

What if we want features Tengiva doesn't currently offer?
We evaluate feature requests based on broader platform strategy. If the feature serves multiple partners and aligns with our roadmap, we develop it. Unlike custom builds where you fund every feature, you benefit from platform improvements we make for the entire ecosystem.

Do we own the supplier relationships?
Absolutely. These are your clients, your network. We facilitate the platform. You own the relationships. Suppliers know they're joining your platform, not Tengiva's.

What happens if we outgrow the partnership?
You can't. It's built to scale with you.

How do we control which suppliers appear?
You define acceptance criteria. We handle vetting and onboarding based on your requirements. You maintain quality standards for your community.

Can we start small and expand?
Yes. Featured section ($12,500/year, 400 SKUs) lets you test model. Upgrade to standalone platform ($36,000/year, 1,000 SKUs) as network grows. Add capacity as needed.

What's the contract term?

12 months renewable.