One way to test out a business, especially a fashion business, is time. While you can predict how well designs or clothing items may sell you will not know anything for certain until you test out the pieces and invest the time into the business. Only 47% of fashion brands are typically still up and running after being in business for four years.
Most fashion businesses fail because of flawed product development, poor product pricing strategies, inadequate marketing efforts, lack of delegation regarding work, and supply chain issues.
When it comes to running a business, especially one based around fashion, money and supply chain can be two of the largest issues in particular. You will rely on your supply chain to ensure that you can receive your materials and fabrics to create your pieces. Whereas money is required to pay for your vendors, manufacturers, and so on. If you do not have a product to sell and move then how can you pay anyone?
Flawed Product Development
One way to ensure that your designs are produced correctly and within budget the first time around? Have quality patterns and samples to send to your manufacturers. They can only work with what you give them and if the design is not specific enough, the correct fabric sample (color and material) is not sent along with it, which can be quite hard to do.
Flawed product designs can cause you to push back your timeline which in turn costs you more money. You could also be responsible for purchasing any flawed products that were produced so far from your design. This means that you cannot sell them for your intended price and have already taken a hit to your predicted profit margins.
Every mess-up, flaw, or misstep will directly impact your business’s stance and future position. The first four years are vital to see if a business, especially a fashion one, can be successful in the long run so avoiding silly design errors is a must.
What To Do If Your Clothing Line Fails And Five Ways To Prevent it!
Poor Pricing Strategies
There is no way to make a profit if you are not properly pricing your inventory. Most industries require their items to cost three to four times the price the business paid for them to even make a profit on the item.
At the end of the day, affordable prices are nice and may attract a few people. However, chances are they will not remain loyal to you because low prices can also be associated with poorly made items. Plus, if you are not pricing your products accordingly you may not be in business long enough to make loyal customers.
Money brought in from the clothing items is intended to cover their manufacturing cost, marketing fees, shipping and transportation, and so on. A lot goes on behind the scenes just to get the products to you, which means that their price needs to adequately reflect those efforts to ensure that invoices and vendors get paid on time. While you are still able to make a profit.
Proper Marketing Is Essential
There is no way for your designs and fashion pieces to do well unless they have exposure and proper marketing. Nowadays, this looks a bit different from before. Today marketing techniques include social media and influencers, especially when it comes to fashion lines.
This means that you will need to be active on social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to properly promote your items. As you create the designs you can share behind the scenes of the design process, discuss your strategy for finding vendors, tell the story behind your line, and so on.
Social media will help people to feel connected with your brand and allow you to gain hype around it before it even launches. This is also where influencers can come into play. You can do influencer research to find some who fit your brand and what you stand for and begin to build relationships with them.
Then later on once you launch your line you can provide them with an item or two to review, make sure there are contracts and agreements in place before you send anything though, to have your brand shown off to their followers. It’s one way to have a ton of eyes on your product in a short period.
Never send free products to anyone whether they ask for it or not because it will be money coming out of your pocket. Especially if they do not agree in writing to then promote your business and share your item with their followers.
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You Can Not Do It All Alone
Delegation is a must when it comes to running a fashion business, even if you only have part-time help or one employee to begin with. Trying to do it all yourself will only result in you getting burnt out, forgetting to accomplish tasks, or not meeting deadlines.
As mentioned, business owners wear a lot of hats simultaneously and no one is good at everything. So figuring out the areas where you could benefit from some additional help and then figuring out the best way to acquire it is key.
For example, say you have no understanding of social media practices, platforms, hashtag research, creating content, all of it. Rather than take the time to try and learn it all yourself from scratch you can hire someone part-time even or a freelancer to help you build out your platforms and slowly introduce you to the ins and outs of social media.
This may seem more expensive at the beginning but having that responsibility taken care of and off your hands will allow you to focus your efforts on other items such as the designs and supply chain issues that may arise. It is quite a fair trade-off in the long run that should benefit your business.
Supply Chain Issues
Supply chain issues can be compared to a childhood fear, everyone deals with it at one point or another. Unfortunately, no business is ever truly secure from dealing with supply chain issues and difficulties as they arise.
You can do your best to prevent them and create solid working relationships with quality suppliers. This may mean staying stateside when it comes to manufacturing or sourcing materials for your pieces depending upon your needs.
One mistake many businesses make is that they try to go international to find suppliers but forget to factor in shipping time, transportation costs, potential duties that may need to be paid, higher than average order minimums, and more. These are all issues that can affect when and how you receive your product, potentially delaying your release dates or costing you more in the long run.
Also, remember to diversify your supply chain and form relationships with multiple vendors in case issues with one arise. You never want to ruin relationships, one because it’s bad business practices, and two because those relationships can save you when another supplier is unable to fulfill an order.
The first four years of any fashion business are the most important and telling years of the company. The most common reason that failure can occur is flawed product development, poor product pricing strategies, inadequate marketing efforts, lack of delegation regarding work, and supply chain issues.
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Related Questions
- So I have to be a content creator on top of a business owner to be successful?
Yes, you have to wear quite a few different hats when owning your own business. Social media today is one of those hats as one viral video or well-planned brand deal can change the trajectory of your line for the better. You do not need to do it all alone though, many colleges require marketing students to have an internship experience before graduation or you can hire a part-time marketing manager to help you out.
- Why should I have a signed contract in place before I send my pieces to an influencer?
A contract will protect you and your business from being taken advantage of. When some influencers like a clothing piece they will offer to promote it if they receive it for free, however without a contract in place they do not need to do anything. So the contract will help you retain the services promised without missing out on the potential profit from the clothing items.
- Is it better to hire part or full-time employees or freelancers to help with certain tasks?
If you are hoping to avoid offering items such as medical insurance, paid time off, sick days, and so on that are typical for employees to receive, then freelancers are the way to go. Since they are independent contractors, you are not required to provide them with benefits or incentives beyond their agreed-upon wage. However, freelance contractors tend to have more of a turnaround on employment, so if you want more consistent people, employees may be the better choice for you.
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.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Fashion Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a designer or boutique owner at a craft fair, farmers market, retail location or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Fashion Business Boss: I want to help fashion business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.