3 key steps to starting a successful fashion business

3 key steps to starting a successful fashion business

by | 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

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

by | 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.⠀

A successful fashion business requires an understanding of one's target market.

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/

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3 ways to jumpstart a struggling fashion business

3 ways to jumpstart a struggling fashion business

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

Is your fashion business struggling or going through a difficult phase? Have you been having poor sales, budget deficits, and low revenue despite your high operating costs? You are not alone! All businesses go through tough times too. 

The good news is that you can change things; the hard part is that you will need to do things differently. It is not easy considering all the efforts and resources that go into running a business. But, it is what you can handle.

Ready to turn your fashion business around? Here are three ways you can get things running again:

Fashion business owner

1. Study the warning signs

What went wrong? What were the seemingly salient things you overlooked that made things go wrong? Was it when you decided to expand? You will need to carefully reflect on your business, check the records, try your best to identify where the problem started. This will help you come up with a plan to transform things.

2. Get Fresh Eyes on your business

Competent professionals and consultants were made for moments like this. Get a proven and credible fashion consultant to look at your business and find out what went south and how you can be steered back on course. Be ready to be cooperative with the facts discovered, and also for the hard decisions that will follow. It might seem like an unnecessary expense, but it will save you a lot more in the long run.

3. Take a new course of action

After getting professional insight into your business, it is time to act on them. Study the new trends in the fashion industry. How can you set yourself apart and offer a Unique Selling Proposition? Maybe it is time to pivot and start offering value your customers did not even know they need. Whichever action you take, review the results after some time and act accordingly again.

When you know your business is struggling, you will need to get proactive and take action. 

Is your fashion business struggling? Are you on the brink of a shutdown? What steps have you taken so far? Let’s discuss this in the comments.

Factors to consider before changing your fashion business model

Factors to consider before changing your fashion business model

by | 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

Starting a fashion business? Here’s what to plan for

Starting a fashion business? Here’s what to plan for

by | Feb 2, 2021 | Business of Fashion

When starting a fashion business, it is easy to focus on just the branding and products, neglecting other crucial aspects of the fashion business. However, you need to evaluate all the necessary costs to come up with an ideal financial plan.

Generally, your startup cost depends on the type of fashion business you plan to launch. If you want to open a physical store, you will most likely have more upfront costs compared to a brand that operates solely online.

Notwithstanding, we will cover areas we consider essential, especially when you’re just starting on a lean budget.⠀

 

1. Daily operational cost

Your daily operational cost includes all types of expenses, including one-off, monthly or annual payments. These payments are for your workspace, electricity, phone bill, transport, accounting, internet, and phone bill.

They don’t seem trivial, but if not considered and planned for carefully, you might find yourself running the business at a loss.

 

2. Samples & Product costs⠀

Think of all the expenses that will contribute to your final clothing cost, and no, stop calculating just the fabric cost. There are other costs for you to consider, such as your technical drawings, patterns, tech packs, trims, labels, packaging, labor, and storage.

 

3. Training & Consulting Costs

Why make expensive mistakes when you can learn from an industry expert? Invest in a session or get training to avoid making mistakes that will cost you a lot more.

 

4. Sales & Marketing Cost

Marketing is an aspect a lot of fashion entrepreneurs forget to plan. But it is crucial to the success of the business. Marketing can gulp a whole lot of your reserves if not carefully planned. The costs that fall under this category include; branding, photography, PR, models, make-up, hair, fashion shows, web design, and ad spend.

 

The important thing to note though is all these costs must be factored into the price of your products if you want the business to survive.  If you have no idea how to do so, the Built2Bill Price Calculator does the costing and pricing for you automatically.

If you need in-depth knowledge of how to start and grow a viable fashion business, we have detailed ebooks and online fashion courses you should enroll in. ⠀

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