How To Start A Fashion Business From Home In Ten Easy Steps!

It seems like everybody is starting a business from home these days, especially in the fashion industry. On the other hand, more people are buying their clothing online than ever before. An astonishing 29.5% of clothing sales are now conducted through e-commerce, per Shopify. Why are so many home-based businesses opening each year? Per the website Incite, the main reason that so many people are opening businesses from home is that they want to be their own boss. So, what’s stopping you from starting a fashion business from your home? I’m here to show you how to do it in 10 easy steps…

To start a fashion business from home in 10 easy steps:

Identify a need in the market and find your niche.

Decide what you are going to sell.
Choose your business model.
Write Your Budget and Business Plan.

Create your brand.
Identify your suppliers and manufacturers.
Open your business.

Make your product.
Plan and execute a marketing strategy.
Launch your product.

In this article, we will dive deeper into each of the 10 steps you should take to start a fashion business from home. I will provide you with plenty of questions you should ask yourself for making this decision. I will also include steps to take to determine what type of business model you should choose, as well as suggestions on how to find your niche and identify a need in the market. We will also break down a business plan so that you can understand the most important parts of it. I will also provide you with a few tips on how to develop and execute a marketing plan.

Identify a Need In the Market and Find Your Niche

The first step to starting any home-based business is to identify a need in the market. The same concept applies to starting a fashion business. What is the one product that will fill a need that the market is demanding? Once you can answer that question, you are ahead of the curve. Some so many people want to go into business for themselves but they have no idea what they are going to sell, which can be disastrous. In the fashion world, try to identify something timeless and classic, rather than chasing the latest trends.

Once you have figured out what the market is clamoring for, you will need to find your niche in that market. In case you are wondering what a niche is, the dictionary defines it as “a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.” For example, if you are designing clothing, your niche could be designing women’s clothing. To break it down even further, you could specialize in either formal, casual, or sportswear. Another Niche that is quite popular in the fashion industry is baby clothing. Besides, baby clothing always seems to sell very well.

How To License Your Clothing Brand In 5 Easy Steps

Decide What You Are Going To Sell

Deciding what product you are going to sell is quite similar to finding your niche in the market. The main difference between the two is that finding your niche is trying to discover what is going to work for your business, wild deciding what you are going to sell is committing to bringing that product to the market. In sticking with our previous themes, if you decide that you are going to sell women’s clothing or baby apparel, this step will simply require you to put pencil to paper and start designing what you are going to sell.

However, designing is only one step in deciding what you are going to sell. There are several questions that you are going to answer before making that final decision. According to Entrepreneur, here are a few questions that you will need to answer before making a final decision on what you are going to sell:

How are you going to have the product manufactured or produced?

Will the product sell, and how are you going to sell it?
Who is your target audience?
What price will you charge for your product?

What type of exchange or return policies will you have for your product?
What is the cost to deliver your product to your customers?

Choose Your Business Model

Now that you have identified a need in the market, found your niche, and decided what you are going to sell, the next step in starting a home-based fashion business will be to choose your business model. If you will be running your business out of your home, you will need to decide if you are going to have your products sold in brick-and-mortar stores, or if you are going to be fully operational in e-commerce. Simply put, are you going to sell the products yourself, or will you have somebody sell them for you? Although it’s not common, you can also sell directly from your home.

How do you know which business model will work best for you? The website GoDaddy has provided a list of things you should consider when deciding on a business model. These include the following:

Keep your customers’ needs and expectations in mind.

Research what payment methods your customers prefer.
Take a look around to see who and what your competition is.
Look into ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Determine whether or not you will have multiple revenue streams.

Write Your Budget and Business Plan

At this stage in opening a home-based fashion business, most of the decision-making is done. It’s time to get down to brass tacks and lay your budget and write your business plan. While I am sure that the majority of you are familiar with business plans, especially if you are planning on opening a business of your own, I will include the things that should be included in every business plan. They are as follows:

Executive Summary
Company Description
Market Analysis

Competitive Analysis
Description of Management and Organization
Breakdown of Your Products and Services

Marketing Plan
Sales Strategy

As you can see, most of the parts of a business plan will come into play in the later stages of opening your fashion business. However, before we get into any other aspects of starting a home-based business, we will have to plan a budget. Bank of America has listed the six steps in creating a budget. These six steps include:

Calculate your sales revenue.
Keep track of your business expenses.
Be realistic. Don’t set yourself up for failure.

Make a plan, and stick to it.
Make adjustments where necessary.
Review your budget regularly.

Create Your Brand

We all know that writing a business plan and creating a budget is necessary for starting any business, but now we get to return to the fun aspect. Once you know who your target audience is, what your niche is, and what you are going to sell, the next step is to create your brand. Your brand is how people will identify you, and it is what will most often be associated with your business. This is the name that you will give to the product you are selling. Besides making your product recognizable, Forbes says having a brand helps to create customer loyalty.

Shopify says that there are seven steps you should follow when creating your brand. The steps are as follows:

Find out who your target audience is and who your competition is.
Pick the product you will focus on and give it a personality.
Give your business a name.

Choose a slogan for your business.
Pick out the colors and fonts for your brand name.
Design your logo, or have a designer create it.

Apply your branding to the business.

How To Market Your Clothing Brand On Social Media

Identify Your Suppliers and Manufacturers

Starting a fashion-based business means that you will need to have suppliers and manufacturers to create your product, even if your business is run from your home. You will need to find suppliers who are reliable and have prices that suit your business. Once you can find suppliers to provide you with the materials you need to start your clothing business, you will need to hire a manufacturer to make the clothing you will be selling. Remember, if you are having a hard time finding a supplier or manufacturer, the right one will eventually come along.

If you are unsure of how to find a manufacturer, or if you just need a few tips on locating one, the website Shop Virtue and Vice has included the following tips on how to find and hire a manufacturer:

Use connections and networks.

Search forums or groups.
Search on Google.
Attend trade shows or search online databases.

Use online business-to-business Marketplaces.
Search for manufacturers or suppliers with Common Objective.
Go to the Maker’s Row database for American manufacturers.

Open Your Business

After you have done all of your research, written your business plan, and found a supplier and a manufacturer, it’s time for the real fun to begin. This is where you get to open your business. Your hard work and dedication you have put toward opening your business will now begin to pay off. However, it’s not all fun, and games during this phase help start an online clothing business. You have to make sure that you have all of the permits and licenses required for you to officially be in business. Failure to acquire these licenses and permits results in financial penalties.

I know that a number of you must be wondering what licenses and permits you need to run a business out of your home, or if you need any at all. Well, I have good news and bad news. According to the Houston Chronicle, the minimum permits and licenses you will need to run a fashion business out of your home or a seller’s license and a resale certificate. Depending on your location, you may be required to have more than this. Investopedia says that you will need a general business license, a professional license, a sales tax license, a sign permit, and a health inspection certificate.

Make Your Product

Once you have cut through all of the proverbial red tape, decided what you want to sell and found your niche, gotten all of your licenses and permits, and found a reliable supplier and a good manufacturer, it’s time to make the product you plan to sell. Whether you make the product yourself, or if you decide to hire a manufacturer to take care of the labor, you will need to have a product for the public. If I may offer some advice, make your initial batch a small test run so that you can get an idea of how the public will respond to your product before baking a big run.

If the product does well in the initial test run, then you step up production and order a larger batch of whatever it is you are selling. You may want to be sure that you do not over-saturate the market with your product. You want to create a demand for it, and have the General Public in a frenzy to get whatever it is you have to offer. Remember, if you oversaturate the market, people will grow tired of your product quickly. Then, you are left with boxes upon boxes of merchandise that you are unable to sell because there is no demand for it anymore.

How To Promote Your Fashion Boutique In 5 Quick Steps

Plan and Execute a Marketing Strategy

Congratulations for making it this far. You now have a product that you are proud of, and it is ready to be sold. Now, you must plan and execute an effective and amazing marketing strategy to create a demand for your product. There are several ways in which you can market your product. One of the newest ways that designers and manufacturers are marketing their products is by using influencers. Influencers have a large number of followers on social media, to whom you usually provide free clothing and accessories in exchange for them wearing them on social media.

Other than using social media influencers, there are several ways that you can market your product. Per Business of Queensland, here is how you should write a good marketing strategy:

Be sure to identify your business goals.
Set your marketing goals and research your market.

Find your target audience.
Research your potential competitors.
Develop effective strategies to help you carry out your goals.

Be sure that you employ the seven P’s of marketing.
Test your ideas on a panel of people in the fashion industry.

Launch Your Product

Give yourself a hand. You have made it through all of the legal requirements and have set yourself up for this day. You have developed a brand and marketed your product, and now it is time to launch that product. If you choose to sell your product in a brick-and-mortar store, you will need to take orders for your products and make sure that they are delivered to the stores that will be selling your product on time. If you choose to go the e-commerce route, be sure that you have plenty of boxes and shipping supplies on hand.

If you want your product to be successful, you will need to plan a product launch to ensure that your product makes a splash in the market. Per the website Good Cardless, here are the steps you should take for a successful product launch:

Be sure to make a checklist so you don’t forget anything.

Make sure that you have expertise in what you’re selling.
Work with reputable social media influencers.
Have giveaways and contests regarding your product.

Don’t give your audience everything at once. Tease them.
Have a great introductory price on your product.
Be sure to tell your customers everything they need to know.

Keep pushing, even after launch day is over.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you want to start a home-based fashion business, now is the time to do it. E-commerce sales are booming, and more people are shopping for their clothing online than they ever have before. As long as you follow the 10 steps listed above, you should have no problem with establishing and running a successful fashion business out of your home, with customers lining up to buy your products. Don’t oversaturate the market by flooding it with your product. Creating a demand will make your business as successful as you dreamed it could be.

How To Release (Launch) A Clothing Line

Table of Contents

How To Start A Fashion Business From Home In Ten Easy Steps!

Related Questions

What are the most successful types of online businesses?

What is the average annual revenue for an at-home business?