3 answers
Nathan
Student
Rock Hill, South Carolina
1
Question
3 answers
Mayra Delaney
Audit
2
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Mayra’s Answer
I must admit I do not have experience in starting a new business. However, I did attend business school and I majored in accounting with the plan to one day start my own business once I have the capital.
I recommend considering obtaining a business degree as you will take courses that will expose you to accounting (the language of business), marketing, business law, and other topics that are imperative to have a basic understanding of when you are a business owner. There are also minors in Entrepreneurship. If you do not have the capital and resources to start a business out of high school, the business degree can help you work within a vast amount of jobs meanwhile gaining real-world experience and hands-on knowledge of daily operations, until you have enough resources to start your own clothing brand.
I recommend considering obtaining a business degree as you will take courses that will expose you to accounting (the language of business), marketing, business law, and other topics that are imperative to have a basic understanding of when you are a business owner. There are also minors in Entrepreneurship. If you do not have the capital and resources to start a business out of high school, the business degree can help you work within a vast amount of jobs meanwhile gaining real-world experience and hands-on knowledge of daily operations, until you have enough resources to start your own clothing brand.
Daniel Maynes
Credit Manager
187
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Daniel’s Answer
This is a great question Nathan!
The clothing industry is very competitive however new brands still pop up and succeed. I would really put thought into what would set your clothing business apart from the competition? Maybe its sourced ethically or from a local source. Perhaps your clothing is all super soft or fits body shapes better than your competitors. Whatever it is you must set yourself apart enough to grow your brand and show your not just another clothing line. Below are some important steps in starting your business.
1. You need to register your business with the Secretary of State (SOS). Most businesses register in the state where the business is actually located (HQ Address). At the same time you will need to decide the entity type for your business such as a LLC, Inc, LTD. Make sure you register with a state so your business can operate legally.
2. Come up with a business plan. This would include items such as operations, location, capital/funding, vision/mission statement etc. You can easily get lost in the weeds on this part. Don't get caught up in details that you can figure out later. Think big picture and ask yourself what is your business really trying to accomplish? That is always a good starting point on a business plan!
3. Lastly, come up with different business goals and set dates when you want to accomplish them. Setting a timeline will help you stay on track and know where you are in the process. It is very difficult but don't let yourself get caught up in the whirlwind of the "day to day." Meaning, set yourself and the business up with clear goals and do your best to not let the "daily fires" use up all your time. Inadvertently, you will have to attend to some of these daily fires but make sure you block off time to keep the vison of the company alive.
Out of the many business books I have read, if I could only suggest one to you, it would be the book below. Hope these thoughts help and good luck on the journey!
Read the The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
The clothing industry is very competitive however new brands still pop up and succeed. I would really put thought into what would set your clothing business apart from the competition? Maybe its sourced ethically or from a local source. Perhaps your clothing is all super soft or fits body shapes better than your competitors. Whatever it is you must set yourself apart enough to grow your brand and show your not just another clothing line. Below are some important steps in starting your business.
1. You need to register your business with the Secretary of State (SOS). Most businesses register in the state where the business is actually located (HQ Address). At the same time you will need to decide the entity type for your business such as a LLC, Inc, LTD. Make sure you register with a state so your business can operate legally.
2. Come up with a business plan. This would include items such as operations, location, capital/funding, vision/mission statement etc. You can easily get lost in the weeds on this part. Don't get caught up in details that you can figure out later. Think big picture and ask yourself what is your business really trying to accomplish? That is always a good starting point on a business plan!
3. Lastly, come up with different business goals and set dates when you want to accomplish them. Setting a timeline will help you stay on track and know where you are in the process. It is very difficult but don't let yourself get caught up in the whirlwind of the "day to day." Meaning, set yourself and the business up with clear goals and do your best to not let the "daily fires" use up all your time. Inadvertently, you will have to attend to some of these daily fires but make sure you block off time to keep the vison of the company alive.
Out of the many business books I have read, if I could only suggest one to you, it would be the book below. Hope these thoughts help and good luck on the journey!
Daniel recommends the following next steps:
𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒃𝒂
Infoprenuer/Entrepreneur and Business Management & Development Consultant
2
Answers
Lagos, Nigeria
Updated
𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒍’s Answer
Hello Nathan,
It's great that you want to go into the business of fashion. Daniel and Mayra have given awesome advice, so I'm just going to add to to what they've said.
1. Why do you want to start this business? Your motivation to starting any business is very important. If that business is not born out of passion, you will soon be worn out when your expected outcome (profit) is taking a longer time to come. There's so much that goes into building a business, some of which includes, commitment, consistency, perspiration, just to mention a few. So if want to start the business just because you think people are making money in it, you may just be about wasting time and resources, however if you commit to it for too long, you can succeed.
2. Do you have the requisite skills and/ or expertise? This is very vital, because no matter her passionate you are about any business, if you lack the required skills and/ or expertise, you'll not provide excellent service to your customers. So if you do not have the expertise or skills, ensure to acquire that.
3. Who is you target audience? The more specific you are about your customers, the more successful you'll become. What is your audience demography (age, sex, location, their need, etc) and psychographic (values, beliefs, behavior etc), with these you're able to appeal to their fashion need. Simply put, build a persona (you ideal customer) for your business. Is your fashion business for ladies or guys? What age group? Etc
4. You can test your business idea, either by running a survey for your business. You can do this by either asking people in your contact or join as many Facebook groups you can where your ideal customers can be found and validate your business idea there.
5. Start blogging using SEO strategy and drive traffic to you website/store. You can either host your store on Shopify, or any other e-commerce platform, or you build your own website.
6. Build and grow your personal brand to reflect your business brand.
If you do these right, you're sure to be on your way to achieving your dream of owning a fashion business.
I hope this has been helpful Nathan, and to everyone who wants to start a new business.
It's great that you want to go into the business of fashion. Daniel and Mayra have given awesome advice, so I'm just going to add to to what they've said.
1. Why do you want to start this business? Your motivation to starting any business is very important. If that business is not born out of passion, you will soon be worn out when your expected outcome (profit) is taking a longer time to come. There's so much that goes into building a business, some of which includes, commitment, consistency, perspiration, just to mention a few. So if want to start the business just because you think people are making money in it, you may just be about wasting time and resources, however if you commit to it for too long, you can succeed.
2. Do you have the requisite skills and/ or expertise? This is very vital, because no matter her passionate you are about any business, if you lack the required skills and/ or expertise, you'll not provide excellent service to your customers. So if you do not have the expertise or skills, ensure to acquire that.
3. Who is you target audience? The more specific you are about your customers, the more successful you'll become. What is your audience demography (age, sex, location, their need, etc) and psychographic (values, beliefs, behavior etc), with these you're able to appeal to their fashion need. Simply put, build a persona (you ideal customer) for your business. Is your fashion business for ladies or guys? What age group? Etc
4. You can test your business idea, either by running a survey for your business. You can do this by either asking people in your contact or join as many Facebook groups you can where your ideal customers can be found and validate your business idea there.
5. Start blogging using SEO strategy and drive traffic to you website/store. You can either host your store on Shopify, or any other e-commerce platform, or you build your own website.
6. Build and grow your personal brand to reflect your business brand.
If you do these right, you're sure to be on your way to achieving your dream of owning a fashion business.
I hope this has been helpful Nathan, and to everyone who wants to start a new business.