Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Go to Fashion-Incubator.com . There`s over 1,300 entries on how to start a clothing line.


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

I believe in grassroots efforts - can you go to a local tailor and have them make them for you... then start selling on Ebay?

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Mike Michalowicz
Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

I believe in grassroots efforts - can you go to a local tailor and have them make them for you... then start selling on Ebay?

Obsidian...Your advice is more appropriate for the entrepreneurial minded college student but manufacturing is a bit more complex than that. While apparel is sometimes known as dumb bunny manufacturing, come on, give us some credit. We`re not that dumb if we`re doing and you`re not. To whit, ALL of my designers are doing "grassroots efforts". Nobody starts big. Everyone starts small and most use resources in their communities (but rarely tailors; if you worked in apparel manufacturing, you`d know why). The only exceptions are celebrities who launch lines but those are licensing agreements from existing large manufacturers who want the rights to use someone`s name for products they already manufacture. Iow, 99.99% start small using "grassroots efforts".

Tailors are great for suits, custom ties, alterations and shirts but they specialize in one-offs, an entirely different mind set and mode of operation. If you were looking for the most expensive (not necessarily best) sewing services there are, that`d be tailors. It works much better if the person who makes your samples will also be your manufacturer. If that means you`re using your next door neighbor, so be it but tailors are very unsuitable for many reasons too involved to explain here. The more appropriate advice is to make protos and samples and pre-sell, taking orders, then you bootstrap your way up to another (preferably local) sewing business who can handle it.

Ebay...~sigh~ Under no circumstance do I ever recommend eBay for someone trying to launch a clothing line. Having worked with more designers than I could possibly count over the past 27 years, it would be difficult to find a WORSE retail option than ebay. In fact, I wrote a two part series on how ebay can kill your business.

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/how_ebay_can_kill_you.html
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/how_ebay_can_kill_you_pt2.html

Ebay is unbeatable if you want to sell off label, collectibles, new stuff you got a deal on and used stuff, no problem. But increasingly, image is everything. I can tell you, there`s not a retailer in the country who wants to be associated with a designer selling their stuff on ebay. It`s the kiss of death. Maybe ebay selling is great advice for your average collegiate entrepreneur but not for apparel manufacturers who are trying to build a product and image. Selling on ebay is EXACTLY why designers get dropped or can`t pick up accounts in the first place. Not only should they not sell on ebay, designers shouldn`t sell to anyone who sells on ebay. 

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

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Joe F. Clark
Senior Principal
Start-Up Smart, LLC. - the clever way to accelerate your business
jclark@startupsmart.net

Things will be easier for you when you write a business proposal..
Address the following in your write up -
Why do you want to get in?
What need do you foresee?
Who is your competition? What is your competitive advantage?
What kind of costs and revenue streams do you anticipate?
What is your distribtution channel?
What demographics are you targeting?
What is your marketing strategy, apart from advertising?
What is your growth plan?

Read it again and again and I will bet you will make improvements to your plan as you repeat the process..

Just my 2 cents - I am a newbie to entrepreneurship as well. I plan to have a web based business and I have already revised the proposal 3 times, having read more info from this site etc..
This site is so addictive