Fashion business information, advice, guidance, and education for fashion brands
Retail is going through one of its most disruptive periods with pressures coming from all corners. This disruption provides new opportunities and a window into where you can go next with your fashion brand to transform your business into a retail powerhouse. Now is the time for brands to adapt to a customer-led environment by sharpening their technological capabilities so they can prosper in this new environment.
...Like really know your customer!
Not what you think, wish or hope that they would be like, and not just the high-level details of their age, income level, and location but the specifics of their character, habits, likes and dislikes, priorities, what a day in their life looks like and more as if they were your best friend or a close family member that you know very well.
In fact, when you start a brand (or any business for that matter) the first question you should answer is WHO AM I SELLING TO?
“We are experiencing many issues with our production, can you help us with this?”
If I had a cent for every time that I heard that sentence I would probably be retired by now.
Most fashion brands (especially if they are new or small), assume that since production is the last part in the process they’ll just worry about it when they get to it, and rather choose to focus mainly on designing and making the perfect samples.
NEWS FLASH - that is the wrong approach.
I consider myself a private person, but this was something I had to share with you!
I have a 2.5 years old son, and quite frankly the last 2.5 years were an amazing and fun experience for me.
Many people will tell you how much work it is to have kids and what you'll need to give up and change etc.
But what no one tells you is how much you can learn from a toddler...about yourself, life and...Business.
It's no news that pricing your product right will have a big impact on your sales.
But what is pricing it right means?
This question can be even harder to answer if you are just starting your fashion brand.
There are few ways to determine the right prices of your fashion products even at that stage. It requires some research, but It all comes down to defining your market positioning, your specific target customer and the value of your product for that customer.
Helping you avoid the thousands of pitfalls that can shatter your fashion business dreams.
That is my job!
And I love it!
However, as a result, in the majority of my content I usually address what mistakes to look out for, which doesn't leave much room to talk about the great things that our fashion industry has to offer.
After all, there is a reason why soooo many people want to be part of this industry.
The retail landscape is definitely changing.
Although there are different opinions as to where it's heading, the future is uncertain.
Retailers are struggling, department stores are closing doors or ....just don't pay designers on time.
Small brands are challenged to compete in a saturated market with low margins.
Are we looking at the end of Brick and Mortar?
The most challenging part when running a marathon is the middle part.
This is where the excitement of the beginning is starting to fade out and the finish line seems far far away.
This is when thoughts of quitting start to surface inside our heads and we start to feel that something big has to happen otherwise we will never make it.
I'm not looking to raise money or bring on investors so why do I need one?
This is usually the response that we get when we ask designers if they wrote a business plan for their new start-up fashion brand.
Quite frankly, I don't blame them for thinking this way, I myself thought the same until I started my fashion brand.
When did being busy become the new measure of success?
How many times you heard someone says 'I'm so busy,' yet you couldn't stop but thinking, what are they so busy with???
Feeling busy makes someone feel successful and accomplished while giving others the impression that that person is indeed successful....more so, they might even envy them.
You have probably noticed it on some garments that you bought.
It is a number, usually somewhere on the care labels, most likely with the letters RN# before it. As in the picture below.
An RN number or registered identification number is a number issued by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), upon request, to a business residing in the U.S. and engaged in the manufacture, importing, distribution, or sale of textile, wool, or fur products.
I have received some great feedback to my last post on should you or shouldn't you do a trade show as a start-up brand.
I heard from designers who had similar bad experiences to mine, others that are contemplating if they should do a show and others who decided not to do one after they ready my article.
What a great slogan.
I was never a fan of Nike (has to do with my favorite sport), but I do LOVE the message of this phrase and I do use it a lot!
Anyways, I’m not here to speak about that.
I’m here to speak about you and turning your talent and great ideas into a business where you can make money doing what you love!
Just one?
You're probably thinking that there are a million important lessons a new fashion entrepreneur must learn, and you'd be right.
However, not all lessons are made equal.
That's why we reached out to the speakers at this year's Be Creative Be Profitable seminar and asked them, "what's the single most important lesson every fashion entrepreneur needs to learn?"
Below is the conversation that ensued...
