5 Things to Know When Starting a Fashion Business

WORDS: Peter Minkoff PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

Every brand that has made a name for itself has an interesting story of its origin. Brands and fashion lines that may dominate today’s stores might have started their journey as small businesses working and creating from a fashion designer’s small living room. On one side trying to launch your own clothing line is a challenging task, mostly because of online marketing, there just might be a possibility to transform a brand that began as a small online store into a clothing brand that is loved and appreciated around the world.

There are some things that can help a brand on its journey of becoming very successful, and here are five very important ones. 

Identify what is needed in the market and choose your niche

When we talk about successful entrepreneurs, one of the first things that lead to having a successful business is picking a niche. A niche represents the industry you will choose to work in and the products that you would want to sell. Two things should be taken into consideration: first of all, there should be some passion for that niche, and second, try to find out if people would be interested in the products that you want to sell. Telling your story through your business is a very personal journey, and what you need to find is that crack in the market fit for your unique designs meant for a specific group of customers. Think about products that you would like to design and create, either those being t-shirts, hoodies, or something completely different. 

 Work on creating your specific designs

One of the most exciting parts of the development path of every clothing business is definitely developing a product. You can start from just having a sketch or a concept of just one product in the early stages of developing your clothing business, but the most important thing is to just start and transform those rough ideas into digital sketches using different platforms or software, that can ease that hard work for you. 

With the rise of online shopping, fashion has become more and more accessible to customers, they like something that is unique and even something where they can take part in the design process. Thus, made to order clothing manufacturers are becoming very popular these days, allowing customers to participate in the decision of how their design will look like, and instead of blindly trying to follow and predict the trends, you create and sell something completely unique. 

Working on the profitability of your business 

There are a couple of things that are very significant to have in mind when working on creating and developing your business. Besides having a brand that is easily recognizable, the business has to make some profit, and there are a couple of things to have in mind when thinking about how to build a profitable business. You should try and think like an entrepreneur, make sure to follow the trends, be able to understand and support your customers, and above all make sure to market your products well. 

Find the manufacturer for your clothes

In order to avoid doing everything on your own from planning, cutting, and sewing, and if you plan on expanding your business, there will be a need to find a manufacturing partner. Maybe these will be just colleagues you can partner with in a search for a home studio, a fabric supplier, or a factory that can help you with supplying your store with goods, but once your business starts expanding, you will need a partner to help you on this journey. 

Determinate Your Market Level

It does not really matter if you will sell your products in your store or online, one thing you will need to think about is the market level you will choose for your brand. This will have an impact on the materials of your choice, the price of your product, and your selection range, going from haute couture, luxury brands, high-street brands, or online shopping. 

Building a successful and profitable business will definitely have its ups and downs with a lot of challenges, with a lot of competitors striving for the same things, but the most important thing is, it is to pursue your dreams and do everything you can to achieve your goals.