The moment someone comes to you to build up their supply chain from scratch is the least to say uplifting for a professional like me!

...yes, however: most of the time, it is worth asking, if the startup or SME is really up for managing their own operations and value chain and everyone is on the same page assessing effort and risks. We don't need a question set resembling the Spanish Inquisition, but a few personal and business relevant ones, to help us gauge resilience, as it will be needed (as many said already).

If it is still a resounding 'yes!', then we can start with pulling the business strategy to pieces to aim for the right setup and use the right collaborators, which will allow us to reach a cost optimum as fast as possible and have a collaboration network we are happy to operate with.