Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am starting a sport clothing line that would target a niche market. My network at the present time are my training partners and others who are also obsessed with the sport.

Here are my 3 options, the way I see it...

1. Should I "start out of my basement" and sort of have a grassroots word of mouth/local advertising and see if my product is viable?
Then do the whole e-commerce thing?

2. Just sell my line on an e-commerce site and virtually nothing else to keep start up costs low compared to:

3. Sell my product along with related established brands (buy in bulk) to make the store more "legit". Much higher costs.

Anyone ever have this problem?

I`d say start it up online.  Put the startup cost into site design, some initial search marketing and brand building.  What good is a bunch of merchandise if no one wants to buy?  Focus on developing the business and getting it live.

There are plenty of online shopping cart solutions.  BUT MAKE A COOL WEBSITE!!!  That 1990`s style template store just won`t cut it anymore.

Check out a site like threadless.com  they have an awesome store layout.

Feel free to e-mail me if you need any help with.it.  My company does online branding, design, and marketing.

-------------------------

Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

I don`t see why you can`t both have an online presence, and do the grassroots word-of-mouth. Either way, you could keep your inventory in the basement and sell what people want. I wouldn`t use the basement as a showcase, inviting people to come by and browse.... :-D

But you could give people a catalog, they could pick something and you could deliver it (from the basement). Same thing only more sophisticated if you have an e-commerce site, where they can view the catalog, pick something, and you mail it.

My own observation is that so few people sell anything unique these days, that it doesn`t make sense to mix it with other stuff....if your product is unique. Focus on what YOU have to offer, and don`t confuse the story with a bunch of other people`s products.

-------------------------

Colleen Dougherty Bronstein Designs
Sun Safe Designer Clothing
http://www.sunsafedesignerclothing.com
http://www.bronsteinartwork.com

I think you`re putting the cart before the horse, these are false choices. I know it`s obvious you have to sell something, somehow, to realize a profit but you have a whole lot before you get to sales. Iow, you have to get to the point of having something worth selling first usually based on prototypes. Some people never make it out of that stage which is why I say it`s cart before the horse. Usually during the prototyping process, in connecting with others, you run across a lot of options that`ll come in handy further along. For example, if you have a prototype you`re flogging around, you may run across buyers who want to stock it and place orders. Even if those orders are small, you want to fill those first because there`s always unanticipated costs and your "tuition" is much lower the smaller the order.

Most if not all, clothing businesses start really small, right from the kitchen table. That`s all I do.

-------------------------

~Nurture people, not products~
http://www.fashion-incubator.com

Y`know, this reminds me of the music industry and how bands got recording contracts, way back 80 years ago, versus today.

Back before the mega-recording companies, a band would form and go out to play. They`d travel everywhere, living in fleabag hotels, sleeping on a bus or in cars. They`d play any venue at all, usually for a percentage of the door.

Along the way, they`d save up enough money to record 1 record (two sides, as a single). If they were lucky, they`d meet someone on the road who`d lend them the money for that one recording.

From there, they`d press the record and sell it at the location they played. One by one, they`d sell the record. Then they`d make another single.

With all this nightly playing, they also came to understand the audience, learned what went over and what didn`t, perfected a show based on tiny changes each night, and becamse super proficient at meeting exactly the market desires.

When they`d been selling actual records everywhere, developing a name on the road, and hopefully having the record played on a few radio stations, THEN a recording company would step in with a possible contract offer.

Today, a band goes nowhere, does nothing, and starts by trying to come up with the money to record a disk. Then they try and try to find a mega-recording company to sign them. They then get a huge financial advance (which is paid back out of any and all revenues for the next years).

The recording company hires writers, show developers, and puts the band out in a small concert tour. It`s entirely up to the company to handle publicity and advertising. If the band doesn`t hit immediately, they`re dropped---still owing all the advance money.

In my opinion, the best position to be in is where you already have a proven product, don`t need the "mega company" and can pick and choose who you "might allow" to get involved with an already-succesful venture.