Starting my own clothing brand ?!

[Owl27]

Hi

I want to set up my own clothing brand, ive got the design but im wondering if anyone can offer some advice? Setting up, start up costs, marketing, web site, dos and donts, general costs?!

Thanks

 

[fisicx]

It really depends on what you are selling and to whom.

But £100K would be good number to start with. That might get you noticed by a couple of potential retailers.

 

[Mr D]

Getting your own brand stuff noticed by people looking through the other thousands of brands is not usually easy or cheap.
You will need to get your design put together - you will come across minimum order quantity. Companies willing to do your order for so many total items or so many of each design.
And quality - some have reported variable quality even within a single shipment from overseas.

 

[Furqan721]

You need a supplier or different suppliers for all your clothing items and before that definitely, a website, marketing strategy planned and implemented, local marketing and a plan to sell your products locally and on national level.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

What do you understand of stress points, different fabric makeup, Sizing, Next seasons Fashion and colours, do you have size templates either paper or digital, Fabric supplier, fastening supplier, if so you are on your way to making clothes

Next you can either find a seamstress of machinist in your area to make up small quantities or pay for a local company to fit you in say, 3 months delivery with a minimum of probably 200 items

Thats the easy part, now you have to sell them, shops will probably want at least a 400% markup from what they pay you maybe more, and most will not deal with you. so you need both a advertising budget and a marketing one

If you spend a couple of years at evening classes then it may well be far easier

 

[artraifi]

From the marketing perspective, I would suggest you start small. Launch your brand and promote it across social media platforms. One of my clients, namely INTERSPORT is a large retailer that has seen immense returns from channels such as social media and ppc (pay-per-click).

Never forgo the marketing bit, if you cant do it than outsource it to someone who can do it. Marketing will always yield a return, and if it is done well then expect it to double, triple your sales.

 

[Blood Lust]

Hi

I want to set up my own clothing brand, ive got the design but im wondering if anyone can offer some advice? Setting up, start up costs, marketing, web site, dos and donts, general costs?!

Thanks

Ok, the first step is to look at what your competition is doing. That means you have to research what high street retailers are offering and then have a look on the internet (including Amazon). For your marketing strategy you need to use Porter`s Generic Strategies:

Cost Leadership: This is when a firm tries to be the cheapest in the industry. This is not suitable for you unless you become the market leader as you wont have the largest economies of scale to win out in any price war.
Cost Focus: This is where you seek to be the cheapest to one or a limited number of niches in a market. By not having all the complex operations of larger firms you can keep your costs lower and be cheaper than them. As a new start-up this strategy is open to you. Find a niche which is profitable, which is largely unsatisfied by your rivals, and then offer them the cheapest.
Broad Differentiation: This is for major companies trying to differentiate themselves on things like superior quality or flexibility across an entire industry. These brand names take time to build so this isn't open to you.
Differentiation Focus: This one is open to you. Its about finding one or a limited number of niches. But the customers in it arent after the cheapest. There are after some form of quality or flexibility or other form of differentiation not provided by the major companies. You focus on giving them what they want better than those major companies and because you arent trying to keep a whole industry satisfied (a niche instead) you can do a better job at it.

For example I saw one business where a woman with a heavy metal interest and clothes making ability created her own internet business selling heavy metal dresses. A niche where plenty of customers exist (female rock/heavy metal chicks) and who are largely unsatisfied (very hard to buy heavy metal and gothic clothing anywhere). She was charging a huge premium and making a fortune from the dresses she was making.

Look at your skills, abilities, and interests. Make a niche list. Without being biased try to pick out what will be the profitable ones and thats where you should start in business. You can start on Amazon if you wish, and if you are making a decent profit proceed to start up your own website. Then you need to let as many of the customers in your target niche as possible know about your existence.

Amazon charge FBA fees (fulfilled by Amazon fees) if using them, and packaging fees if they are boxing the sold stuff up. For a website targeting niche customers you can get a create your own drag and drop package for £50. What you will need is plenty of photos of the products done in a professional manner.

Also, one mistake a lot of start-ups make on their websites is they make it personal. De-personalise it. No one is interested in the business owners ambitions, dreams, or life story. They are only interested in your product.