The Ultimate Checklist For Starting A Clothing Line

Starting your own business can feel like you’re climbing Mount Everest, but you don’t have to put on your mountain climbing shoes just to get started. Having a checklist makes your job easier as you start your clothing line of your dreams. While these are non-exhaustive, the following are the steps you need to take to start your business:


The Ultimate Checklist for Starting a Clothing Line is:

  1. Make your business plan. 
  2. Create your budget. 
  3. Find your location. 
  4. Choose your products.
  5. Hire on your employees (if applicable). 
  6. Create your marketing strategy.
  7. Modify and change your plans as needed.

For more details about what needs to go into your budget and business plan, along with tips and tricks on finding your location and choosing your inventory, read on. 

Make your business plan

Your business plan is the most important aspect of your business planning. Some of the following are what you need to include in your business plan. Don’t feel like you have to include everything, or modify the list to match your needs. 

  • Your business name: While you can do this at the end, your business name should be front and center in your business plan.
  • Executive summary: this section summarizes your entire business plan with an introduction, brand highlights, your general business information, what you intend to sell, an overview of startup costs, and about you. 
The Ultimate Checklist for Starting A Clothing Line.
  • Mission statement: this is a declaration of your purpose, focus, and goals that you will maintain throughout your business. State which markets you will work with and set an intended direction with your mission statement.
  • Objectives: state all your long term and short-term goals in this section. What are your benchmarks for success? List them here.
  • Legal structure: you will need to decide what your business will function as. Legally, a limited liability company will help to remove your personal assets from your business assets in the time of any legal action, so it tends to be your best option when starting your own business. 
  • Insurance information: how are you insuring your business?
  • License information:  How do you intend to license your business? There are many options that you can pursue, but receiving your business license is most important. If you have your own building, a certificate of occupancy is also required.
  • Any research or analysis of the industry: what do you know about the clothing industry, and how does it apply to you? 
  • Any research or analysis of your target market: in this section, consider what your market is, both broadly and specifically. Who do you want to sell your clothing to? What is the market need? What are the trends associated with the prices in the market, and how is the market growing? What is the competition doing as a result, and how can you gain the advantage?
  • Management structure: how are you managing you and your employees? What are the job descriptions of anyone working for you in your business? Who makes the decisions for your business? What is the hierarchy? What benefits will employees receive? If you hire additional employees, who do they answer to?
  • Products: What products do you want to sell? How will they be made? What will you do to acquire them? 
  • Marketing strategy: start outlining how you intend to market your business and your products. While this can be overwhelming at first, consider completing all research before you take this step. What websites will you use? What mediums will you consider? How do you want to market your items? What is the best pricing for your items? Do you have an advertising policy? Do you want to complete marketing campaigns? You should also start planning a cohesive brand for your business. 

How To Start A Successful Clothing Line In 9 Easy Steps

Create your budget

While creating your budget actually fits into your business plan, so much needs to go into it that it merits its own step. The following should be included in your budget creation:

  • Sales forecast: how much do you intend to make in your business within the first year? The first three months? Make a projection of your sales. Also consider how much your products will cost. 
The Ultimate Checklist for Starting A Clothing Line.
  • Operating expenses: make a complete breakdown of what your expenses would be. Bank charges, salaries, advertising, insurance, payroll taxes, rent, repair and maintenance on your building, utilities, shipping, benefits, etc. are all included in your operating expenses. 
  • Gross profit and net profit: include both of these for your records. 
  • Projected profit and loss: take your gross profit and subtract your operating expenses to get your projected profit and loss. 
  • Projected cash flow: what kind of financial support will you receive? Outline any equity, loans, other cash in, and profits within this section. You should also include cash out, such as any payments you make. 
  • Projected balance sheet: outline all of your financials in one place.
  • Capital outline: how will you raise your funds? What will you do to get enough to start your business? 

Find your location

With the bulk of the office work out of the way with your budget and business plan, you can move onto the next step—choosing your location. The following is what you should do in making that decision:

  • Find out where you intend to sell: this can be a physical location or online. Depending on what you decide, consider your target market before you make this decision. 
  • Purchase any furniture or supplies you may need: whether it’s a better computer or internet hookup for your online business or racks for your physical location, this is the time to make those purchases. 

Choose your products

While you chose your products in the business plan, it’s time to start acquiring your inventory. Decide how you’re going to purchase them or what supplies you need to make them, and decide on sizing. Work with manufacturers that allow for the minimum quantity of orders to make your inventory last and increase your profits at the start of your business. 

Finding a manufacturer tends to be your best bet for creating your clothing line. While networking is still your easiest and most trusted option, you can look online for manufacturers that meet your mission statement and goals requirements while giving you the lowest price on products. Try searching on Maker’s Row, Common Objective, Sqetch, and Kompass.

Hire on your employees (if applicable)

If you need employees, this is the point where you should be hiring. Make sure you look for the right people to fit into your mission statement and goals. You should also make sure you follow your employee hierarchy as set by your business plan. 

Create your marketing strategy and start selling your products.

You already did this within your business plan, but there are a few more things you need to do before you sell your first item. 

The Ultimate Checklist for Starting A Clothing Line.
  • Photograph and model your clothing: before you can start selling, you need marketing materials. Work with a photographer to get photos of people wearing your items, and make sure the photos and models themselves fit within your target demographic and your niche. 
  • Set a schedule: People want cohesion and professionalism. If you set it on a schedule, people know what to expect from you. 
  • Choose the proper social media outlets: when you just start out, you’ll need to pick the right places to market your items. Whether you’re marketing to the Facebook or TikTok crowds, make sure your content is tailored to your chosen market. 
  • Set up your website: whether you’re selling online or not, you need to have a proper website in which to link back to. Create your website at this point in your process. 
  1. Modify and change your plans as needed. 

You’re not going to have all the answers when you’re first sitting down to create your business plan. You may need more employees or more capital, or need to make different decisions when it comes to your inventory. No matter what changes you have to make, roll with them and learn from them so you can better reach your goals. 

Creating your clothing line doesn’t have to be daunting or complicated—sometimes just having a list can jump start your ideas and passion. Don’t be afraid to add or take out steps that may not be as applicable to you, and don’t be afraid to adapt and make changes as you go. 

How Much Money Do You Need To Start A Clothing Line?

RELATED QUESTIONS

What is gross profit, and what is net profit?

Gross profit is the amount of money you have left after deducting the cost of goods sold from your revenue. Your net profit, or net income, is the amount of money you have left after paying all of your business expenses. Net income is your “bottom line”—your gross profit, on the other hand, is the company’s profits after taking out all of the production costs. Gross profit is simply your profit minus cost of goods, while net profit takes your gross profit and subtracts all other expenses. 

If I’m selling online, where do I start?

There are many different online retailers you can work with, but the following are your best options: Amazon, Big Cartel, eBay, Etsy, Magento/Adobe Commerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

To learn more about how to start your own fashion clothing line check out my startup documents here

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.