Fashion brand startup Archives

5 ways to build brand trust on social media

by Sophie | Mar 2, 2021 | Business of Fashion, Uncategorized

Establishing trust in your business on social media is imperative for every fashion brand. It is perhaps even more important than sales. When customers shop at a physical store, they don’t have to be concerned about issues, like the quality of your clothes or being scammed.

Shopping and ordering on social media is a vastly different experience. Potential customers have less to go on when determining how comfortable they feel making a purchase. Consequently, it’s up to you to quickly earn their trust and curb any skepticism.

Here are 5 techniques for earning trust online from your customers;

1. Use high-quality-images and photos

Quality content can do a lot for your fashion brand on social media. It sets you up apart and improves the way potential customers see you.

They can’t touch or physically see the clothing, all they can use to determine if they should make the purchase is the images you put up. If you take high-quality captivating photos and record videos, it will be much more convincing.

2. Put yourself out there

People like to know the stories and faces behind brands they love, it helps them connect with the business on a deeper level. You can create engaging how-to videos, behind the scenes, styling tips, or just photos of you wearing what you produce.

3. Use Reviews

With reviews, your brand can show potential customers what your existing customers think. It will help increase their confidence and trust in the quality of what you’re selling. Don’t use just Whatsapp screenshots, video reviews, and unboxing videos can also be used.

4. Have a consistent brand identity

From your logo and brand colors to your tone and personality, you must be consistent in everything you do and say. People will come to recognize your brand’s unique style and have more trust in it. Even when other brands steal your content, your audience will be able to tell it’s yours.

5. Provide a great customer experience

The best way to deliver trust is to surprise and delight customers. Give them what they asked for, but on top of that, deliver more, more service, more time, more convenience, and more sensitivity.

Building trust with potential customers is an issue all fashion business owners should take seriously. Even if you don’t have a brand that stands on its own yet, employing these strategies can help prove to your potential customers that your business is trustworthy and legitimate.

Have you developed other strategies to help build trust in your business? Share with us in the comments so others can learn from it.

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3 key steps to starting a successful fashion business

by Sophie | Feb 28, 2021 | Business of Fashion

help you Launching a fashion business can be the most exciting, invigorating but tiring thing you’ll ever do. There is the fulfillment that comes with it but also, the terrible nights that come by the side too! Do it well and your dreams will come true, get it wrong and you might have to give up on them.

For most of us, our fashion business is like our baby, we completely commit to it, as you should- that’s a free tip, you are welcome. However, after dedicating a lot of emotional energy and resources to making your fashion business work, it is sad when things go wrong. And, you don’t achieve the vision you had.

Successful fashion businesses make mistakes that can set a brick out of place and bring months or years of efforts crashing down. But, there are some steps you can take to ensure you are not starting off on the wrong foot. Take them and your business might weather the storms. Ignore them and your business will get swept up and forgotten. Here are three steps you can take to ensure your fashion business is up to the right start:

1. Write out a Financial Plan:

Finance is the blood of your business. You need a plan for getting enough of it. If you don’t get your plan right, you might find your business collapsing just as it is about to start taking more strides. As a result, you will need professional help setting up a flow to ensure you get the right type for your business.

2. Set up a Pricing Strategy:

You are setting yourself up for trouble if you are setting prices based on what you think they should be. If your prices do not consider the type of product you sell, the demand for it, the cost of your production, and more, then you might be getting yourself into a serious problem. We have an automatic cost & price Calculator that will price your products for profit.

3. Get a fool-proof Marketing Plan:

If no one knows what you are selling, they won’t come to you when they need your product. If they don’t trust your brand, they will not keep coming and they definitely will not recommend you to their friends who will then recommend you to their friends. These are the issues your marketing plan should be able to cover. Without a proper marketing plan, you will only have a shiny product that is not going anywhere.

Are there more vital steps you think entrepreneurs out there should know? Share with us in the comment section!

3 Things you need to know before starting the Business Of Fashion

by martwayne | Feb 16, 2021 | Business, Business of Fashion, Business Side of Fashion

An overwhelming number of startup fashion businesses fail after they get started simply because they failed to figure out some basic things required to run the business successfully.⠀

In the last few years, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria have become the hubs of startup establishment. According to the Venture Capital Report of 2019 by WeeTracker, Nigeria has the maximum score of Venture Capital followed by Kenya and South Africa.

However, in terms of trends, Nigeria has experienced more startup business shutdowns at 61.05%, Kenya at 58.73%, and South Africa at 54.39%.

According to the data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 20% of small businesses fail in the first year, 30% in the second year, 50% in the fifth year while 70% fail within the first ten years. These statistics show that there is an increase in the failure rate hence it is a global concern.

Your business does not have to be on the list of the failed business.

Here are 3 things you need to know before you start the Business of Fashion;

⠀1. Know Your Niche Well

Firstly, you need to determine the niche you want to focus on in the Business of Fashion and avoid pivoting frequently. This will help you establish your brand and be known as an authority in that area. For instance, if you’re launching a plus-sized women’s wear brand or Corporate Clothing Retail, focus on selling those items only.

2. Identify Your Target Audience⠀⠀

Many fashion brand startups fail because they do not know their target market. This article on How to define your target market explains what you need to do before starting.⠀

Avoid making this mistake. Research your target customers’ social, financial, educational, and other backgrounds. This will help you deliver the choice and needs of your customers. For example, if you identify pregnant women as your target consumers, then you should create fashion items as per their choice of colors, trends, comfort, etc.

3. Know What It’ll Cost

Lack of funding is surely one of the reasons many businesses fail without realizing their full potential. In order to avoid such a situation when starting out, have a realistic budget of how much money you need to set up and run your business. After you have your budget ready, work on getting a significant portion of it ready.⠀This article on important costs to plan for will surely help you.

Starting a Fashion business

Starting any kind of business requires tenacity, endurance, and dedication. Setting up the business of fashion is all the more challenging because this is a hyper-competitive industry and a very complex one as well even at the smallest of scales that’s why you need to be prepared from day one.⠀

What are your thoughts?…. Let’s discuss …⠀

P.S.

Do you know we offer Online Courses in Sewing and Patternmaking, Pattern-making only, Sewing Techniques for Perfect Finishing, Origami Patternmaking and so much more? And you can register anywhere in the world! ⠀⠀

Check out our Online Courses Here: https://martwayne.com/online-fashion-courses/

Recommended Resources

Fashion Business Idea: Corporate Clothing Retail

How to Start a Clothing Factory

5 Ways to Build Buzz for Your Fashion Business

FASHION BUSINESS OPPPORTUNITY: Fashion Brand Strategist

by Sophie | Feb 15, 2021 | Business of Fashion, Fashion Business Opportunity, Uncategorized

The most popular brands we know today did not suddenly rise to fame. I dare say they didn’t even become the most popular brands because they had the best quality product. A brand’s reputation is built through carefully thought-out, intentional steps and actions that can take years to build, but only a few hours to lose if damaged! Brands know this, which is why they are forever careful with their branding and who handles it.

Branding requires a mix of analytical skills, an inquisitive nature, and a keen grasp of what makes people tick. Do you have all these? Then you are already on your way to becoming a great fashion brand strategist. Your work will usually be in collaboration with the brand managers and the marketing team to make sure a consistent and effective brand message passes with every communication the brand makes with customers.

As a result, you will need to be at the top of your game, being proactive and anticipating future trends and the success of a product or service your brand is offering. You will provide positioning recommendations, guide market research analysis, and define brand elements and tone.

You will also need to gain industry experience specific to the brand you are working with, familiarize yourself with digital marketing, and hone your copywriting skills.

Unlike other career paths, there’s no specific training involved in becoming a strategist. But, a degree in business or marketing will be a good advantage.

What is the brand about; Why does the brand do what it does? To what end? All of these are questions you will help your clients get answers to. As a fashion brand strategist, you can either apply for jobs or work as an independent brand consultant for businesses to gain more experience.

In branding, you get to explore ideas and channel your creative juices! Does that sound exciting to you? Do you have what it takes? Let’ us know in the comments.

Factors to consider before changing your fashion business model

by Sophie | Feb 9, 2021 | Business of Fashion

To run a fashion business that hits target goals, you will need to do more than make beautiful clothes. Running a fashion business, just like any business, requires a business model along with other factors.

It may sound unprecedented for a fashion business to change its business model but think about it: just last year, the pandemic brought some major fashion stores to their knees, with many stores losing patronage due to lockdowns. Business Insider wrote last year, that multiple industry leaders declared the death of the fashion industry as we know it. These show that the industry is changing rapidly, and if your business will survive, your model has to evolve, it must.

Your business model dictates your profit-making. It is how you adapt to trends and challenges that your business will face. It should be updated regularly, or the fashion business will fail to move forward. Fashion business models are the same too.

If your business has been running on a model for a long and you have noticed diminishing returns: then you need to rethink your model. So how what factors to consider before changing your fashion business model?

1. The target audience

If your target audience is not responding to your marketing efforts, it’s rapidly changing, too small, too large or has no buying power. Your model should change to accommodate the new audience you are targeting.

2. Expansion

If you are expanding, what worked for you before might not work again. It might be time to evaluate the market once more and check your plan to see if you are ready to meet the demands.

3. Profitability

A model only works if it is bringing in the expected profit. When you start getting recurring losses, it is time to change your model.

4. A change in trend

The pandemic, for example, is a change in the lives of people. It has drastically changed how much they get clothes as well as other aspects of their fashion life.

Is your model currently working for your business? Do you need to change it or make slight adjustments? Let’s discuss

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