Fashion business information, advice, guidance, and education for fashion brands
This last week I had a meeting with 2 investors who recently bought a licensing to build a fashion line for a public figure (name is confidential) and they wanted to learn more about the industry and how can we help them.
After I gave them a quick rundown of the process one of them asked: So how much of it is luck?
Did I hear right? I asked myself.
When I first heard about cash flow in relation to my fashion business I thought to myself: What does it have to do with fashion??? I went to fashion school not accounting, right? ....Just checking.
And my ego added: I have a great style, people love my designs, they'll buy them and my brand will be successful...
As I mentioned before...I made quite a lot of mistakes with my fashion brand and paid heavily for them, the above was one of them.
What is cash flow?
Cash flow is the net amount of cash moving into and out of a business.
We often get asked if a fashion design degree is necessary in order to have a successful fashion brand?
The key words in that question are necessary and successful.
If you have a fashion design degree, this means that you learned in theory how to design a full collection, got introduced to the technical and design terms and the process of making a fashion product. HOWEVER, if you do not have a fashion design degree you
Today's post is an answer for a designer's question about payment terms.
Janette Hanna asked Boaz:
Hello Boaz, I wanted to learn about a document/contract? for terms when taking orders from boutiques. I would like to show them a document with clear terms, ie pay 50% on order, 50% upon delivery. Are 50/50 terms used? J. Hamill says to charge the their credit card for remainder the day you send the order. Not when they receive the order. Needing clarification.
Last week we looked into answering the big question of How Much Does it Cost to Start A fashion Brand, this week we’ll tackle the question of How Long Does it Take to Launch A Fashion Brand?
Similar to cost, the time question does not have only one answer and the answer depends on different aspects of your brand, such as your product, your target customer/ market, your commitment and availability (time and money), your business concept, business strategy and more.
Sustainability - The ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.
In the fashion industry we are constantly producing more and more goods. We use tons of natural resources, produce garments all over the world and all the while we are trying to keep up with ever changing trends and timely demands of the fashion industry. What is that impact? Most of the pollution in the garment industry comes from textiles. Water usage, finishing agents, and dyes. 20% of the worlds water pollution is due to the garment industry. How does it affect the community that work and live around these factories? As designers and consumers we have the responsibility to ask ourselves these questions and the ability to make change.
How do you as a designer build a company with all of these things in mind and as a small brand be a part of this change?
Boaz was recently interviewed by Monica Lee for her Smart Creative Women website Where he shared his own story and experience in the fashion industry, shared lessons he learned along the way and talked about the concept behind our company Human B.
So tune in to listen here, learn a few things and get inspired!
When starting a fashion brand, thoroughly understanding your product, knowing who you’re selling to, and defining your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) are vital for the success of the brand. It sounds pretty obvious, right? Apparently not all businesses follow that.
Niche business - a business targeting to a specific group of customers with a specific common shared interest, passion, or desire.
Many new fashion brands don’t take the time to define their niche and end up spending their money and affords on the wrong targets. Starting a brand of dresses with interesting designs or with the
A guest post by Maria Pesin from Vibe Consulting
I know, I know, selling is scary. Will the customer like your product? Will you seem too pushy? Will you not push enough? What if they reject you? How do you even start? These are many of the questions my clients ask me. The truth is selling is not as hard as you think. Just like anything you do there is a process. Following the process will help take the fear out of selling. The more you do it the easier it becomes and the better you get at it. As entrepreneurs we need to get over our fear because without sales there is no business. Even if you hire great salespeople, business owners who involve themselves in sales have better results. Buyers love when the owner cares enough about their business to interact with them. Here are my 5 tips to selling your brand to store:
PaperGirl is a brightly illustrated and inspiring made in NY childrenswear line that our company manged the development and production for this past year before launching their first collection in April 2015!
The stunning original artwork that make up each print on the garments, coordinates with a booklet (also designed and written by the designer) stored inside the garment’s pocket to inspire its little wearers to dream as individuals. Here we meet the designer behind the imaginative brand to hear her unique story:
This is a guest post by Eric Fitzgerald, an independent business consultant and the founder of Fashion Business Insider.
Like most aspiring designers, your sketch books are probably filled will lots of new and exciting design ideas that you want to someday explore in your collection. Having a platform to experiment with new ideas, fabrics, and silhouettes is the dream of any entrepreneurial designer. As much as creativity will help define your brand, remember that you’re also running a business and that brands take time to develop. Part of that development process is being consistent with what you offer your customer and how you offer it to them.
Consistency does not mean you need to be boring or basic. In fact, as an emerging designer, ensure that your product speaks volumes about who you are and what your brand stands for. Push yourself creatively and continue to innovate. But do so from a vantage point that is
Starting a business is a marathon.
As a business owner you must be mentally prepared to live with uncertainty and fear while pushing through obstacles for years on end.
Every successful entrepreneur will tell you that before they had success stories they had numerous unsuccessful stories. Bill Gates watched his first company crumble, Milton Hershey started 3 candy companies before Hershey’s, Walt Disney was told he lacked creativity and was forced to close his first animation company and the list goes on.
The ability to control fears and detach from the outcome is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from other business owners. They are visionaries who have the ability to turn the
This post is written by our branding consultant Maria Pesin from Vibe Consulting.
I was at a trade show one day shopping for product to sell in my shoe and accessory store. Passing by a booth I saw belts that looked interesting. The salesperson gave me the information about the belts and I was ready to leave. Then the owner of the company came over and told me the story of the company and the belts. The story was so compelling that I sat right down and wrote an order.
Stories have the power to inform and educate, entice and engage a customer. Stories can
How many products will you need to sell in order to cover your cost and at what level of sales will your business make a profit?
To answer this you will need to calculate and find what is the breakeven point of your business.
Breakeven point (or breakeven analysis) is the point in which expenses are covered, and anything that is sold above that point means that your business is making a profit.
Calculating the breakeven point is done by defining the relationship between expenses and revenues and understanding how expenses/cost will change as sales increase or decrease. Let’s look at how it’s done.
As creative people most fashion designers are not well versed (nor they should) in the legal aspects of starting and running a business. Never the less a design business that is responsible for producing products from scratch. When done wrong, things such as protecting your business identity, dealing with vendors and contractors, paying your taxes etc. can end up costing your business money and quite a lot of headache and time when facing these issues later on.
To help you with this, here are 4 things to consider before your start your fashion business:
Starting your fashion brand means starting a business! Hold on, don’t laugh, it might sound obvious to you but many designers out there are not fully aware of that aspect.
Many people (especially those who have never owned a business) tend to glamorize the idea of being your own boss, setting your own hours, your own rates, your own rules, choosing who to work with, not to mention receiving all the credit and rewards for your talent with hopes of being famous and other unrealistic ideas. These alluring benefits are often the drive for many designers to make the leap to start their own business without closely examining the other logistics.
“Be hard on yourself. Ask ‘Do I make sense? Am I crazy?' You can listen to everybody [else], but follow your heart. The worst mistake is to do something and then realize, I didn't really want to do it but so-and-so told me to” Diane Von Furstenberg
Reading this quote probably brings up memories of decisions you've made at some point in your life as well as in your business. One relatable experience that stuck with me happened when I was in fashion school:
As a young designer I had a very distinctive design perspective and didn't want anyone telling me what they thought about my ideas as I had no intention to compromise my artistic views
