How To Start Your Own Successful Fashion Business
Even after facing a tough year in 2019, the global fashion industry is expected to keep growing at a rate of 3-4 percent in 2020, according to The State of Fashion 2020 report by McKinsey. The fashion industry generated over $733 billion in 2019, making it one of the largest creative industries. If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own fashion brand, now is the best time.
Photo by Ray Piedra from Pexels
By starting a fashion brand, you get to share your talent with the world and turn your passion into a fully functioning, profitable business. However, to create a lasting business, you need more than just exquisite clothing designs. To be successful, there are some additional things you need to consider when launching your brand.
Develop your clothing brand
The first and probably the most important step in starting a new fashion brand is developing your brand identity. Clothing is very personal for most people since it’s one of the ways we define our identity; our clothes have an impact on who we are as well as how we see ourselves. As such, you want to build a strong brand from the get-go so that people feel good when they wear something from your company. Once you build the core of your brand, you can use it as the foundation for other branding decisions, such as the business name, logo and website design.
Another thing you’ll need is small business insurance. The type of insurance you need, such as nonprofit insurance, will depend on various factors unique to your business; for example, if you have employees, you’ll be required to have workers’ compensation insurance to protect them and your business.
Fill in the business blanks
After defining your brand, you can focus on the important details of starting and running a successful clothing company. There’s a lot to think about, from choosing your business structure, to licensing, pricing and creating a business plan. First of all, you need to determine the legal structure of your fashion business. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership or limited company? Depending on what you choose, there will be paperwork to file and different kinds of licences or permits you’ll be required to have to operate legally. Another thing you’ll need is small business insurance. The type of insurance you need will depend on various factors unique to your business; for example, if you have employees, you’ll be required to have workers’ compensation insurance to protect them and your business. You also need a business plan to help you plan ahead for all the legal and logistical business considerations you’ll face as you get your business off the ground.
Market your business
There’s no escaping it; you need to come up with a strong marketing strategy to give your business a flying start. But before that, you need to set the right prices for your products. When setting your prices, the first thing you need to consider is the cost of producing your products and getting them to the consumers so that you can ensure a profit. After that, you can consider the less-tangible aspects like perceived value and competitor pricing, and then make adjustments. With the right prices, you can then market your products to your target audience through social media, a website, magazines, radio, TV, and any other means you have at your disposal.
Starting a fashion brand is an exciting venture, but you’ll need to be ready for a life of hard work and long hours. To be successful, work hard on creating a unique style that will set your business off on the right foot.
