Style Diaries: How To Start Your Own Fashion Line

From selling T-shirts to developing a signature line of summer dresses, fashion is big business. There is always room for new ambitious entrepreneurs to take advantage of the overwhelming demand for newness in the fashion industry. Some $250 billion was spent by consumers on fashion in 2015 according to Statisticbrain.com.

The Internet has utterly transformed the way we do business, making way for new entrepreneurs to come up with innovative start-ups that take a unique approach towards work. No matter what business a person wants to get into, there is plenty of help available all around. In fact, this is due to high percentage of outsourcing services available, letting managers concentrate on core functions of the business.

If you are looking to start a clothing company, you can easily find companies that are already established as wholesale clothing distributors and develop well-oiled supply chains to get your business rolling.

Before we get started, you have to keep one thing in mind; fashion is a business. Most people who get into the fashion industry, do so because they like clothes, like to design clothes, or like looking good in clothes. You may fit the bill on all of those things but all of that does not create a business.

You’ll have to know just what it requires to keep profit margins, how to deal with legal problems (like agreements, insurance policy and also producing a partnership or an LLC), and how to supply products to your customers in a prompt and also cost-efficient manner. Taking time to plan for the business aspect of style will certainly be crucial to your success.

Like a lot of things in life, starting a fashion business isn't cheap. You’ll need to take the time to produce sensible quotes on just how much it will indeed cost to begin as well as maintain your business.

When you’ve started that procedure, it will likewise be important to start finding out where the start-up capital is coming from (is business being funded by your individual financial savings, assets from family members, a bank loan). A tip is to multiply what you assume it will cost to preserve your operations by five.

Whether you are printing T-shirts or you are developing an entire unique fashion line, someone has to make the stuff. You have to find a manufacture that can create the clothes to your exact specifications. Visit Makersrow and search for manufacturer that can make your products. In the beginning, you may be able to get away with sewing and printing the clothes yourself. However, if you begin to gain some traction, there will be less time for you to dedicate towards production. Which leads me to my next point.

When I was in college, I used to develop fashion jewelry as well as offered them shops to make ends meet. I can tell you, firsthand, that a lot of my time was not invested creating brand-new precious jewelry styles. Instead, about 70 percent of my day was spent on doing everything else that it takes to run a successful company.

You need to be ready to do everything on your own until you can employ others. You will find that a lot of your time will be invested in paperwork, customer invoices, tracking online orders and expenditures rather than milking your own creativity. You likewise have to be prepared to deal with logistical like shipping, customer support, creating and distributing, press kits, and figuring out a plan for operations development.

Your is your company’s identity. The goal is to not only gain followers but to build loyal followers. The loyalty of the people who choose to buy your products will spread to others. Think of your brand as a person. What your brand does and how it responds to those who interact with it will make all of the difference.

In a world where everyone wants to start a clothing line of some kind, personalizing your brand and connecting with customers will give you a leg up on the competition. Here are some important things to remember when building your brand.

Seeing the brand name and logo everywhere is an important part of marketing for any business but is especially crucial for clothing lines. The fashion industry relies on social proofing more than most sectors. No matter how much people want to be unique, they tend to wear what their friends and style icons are wearing. The more people see your clothes being worn, the more people will want to wear them. Once you’ve identified your target market, get in front of them somehow and stay in the forefront of their minds.

There is nothing like a good story to go along with a good brand. Your clothing line should be known for something special in order for it to stand out. FitMeSo.com, for example, is a clothing company that makes dresses to the exact measurements. You pick the exact style, patterns, and materials and the dress is made to fit each customer perfectly. They have a reputation of delivering clothes that fit. Your brand should also have its own identity and reputation.

Think ‘fashion bloggers’. People who are fans of you or your style will be your first customers. Even if you are not in the fashion field it is also possible to use your personal awesomeness as a springboard. Youtubers Wong Fu productions launched their clothing line Mr. Nice Guy and Awkward Animal, LLC after the gained popularity making comedy Youtube videos.

Even though the fashion industry is about selling products, your service will be what keeps people buying. Make it a priority to ship your online sales to your customer quickly and accurately, and figure out a way to help customers make shopping decisions with a knowledgable sales associate (be it virtual or human).

The mistake many new fashion entrepreneurs make is that they try to get their product in the stores and on the runway right away. With the fashion industry being as competitive as it currently is, the best way to get the attention of larger retailers is to prove that people like your designs, starting small, then expanding later.

To do that you have to sell the stuff yourself first to get noticed. The easiest way is to get it out to people is online. I recommend using Shopify to set up your online store. With Shopify you can set up an online store pretty quickly and post your designs.

The mistake many new fashion entrepreneurs is that they try to get their product in the stores and on the runway right away. With the fashion industry being as competitive as it currently is, the best way to get the attention of larger retailers is to prove that people like your designs.

To do that you have to sell the stuff yourself first to get noticed. The easiest way is to get it out to people is online. I recommend using Shopify to set up your online store. With Shopify you can set up an online store pretty quickly and post your designs.

Real success often takes some time for the majority of us. You don’t earn a profit until you have repaid your start-up costs (such as material costs, money spent constructing a web site, press set production/ mailing expenses, and so on).

It took years for Shark Tank star and founder of FUBU, Daymond John to take his clothing to take off.

“I would wake up at about seven or eight in the morning, and I would sew the hats by myself, tag them, answer a couple of orders that came in overnight. Then I’d take the hats, package them, and begin to ship them out. I took care of all of that until about Noon or 1 PM. Then I’d hit up Red Lobster around 4, work there until midnight, come back home, make more hats, and tally up any orders until about 1 or 2 in the morning. I’d start the routine all over again the next day. I did this for about two years straight”, John said in this interview.

The fashion industry can be highly competitive and highly lucrative. Use the tips above and you can begin to stake your claim.

This post was originally published on StartUp Mindset.