Over the coming months, in addition to our regular interviews with our network of designers and manufacturers, and industry news scoops, Insider will introduce a regular series of articles on how to set up your own new fashion business: The Toolkit Series.
The steps we outline would be the basic prerequisites to creating a successful business, both creatively and financially, be it a fashion label or another product led venture.
The Toolkit Series will form a part of a toolkit that one can reference at any time and use as a helpful resource.
Currently, the ever-increasing demand for newness from designers, both new and more established, is well acknowledged and documented. Thus starting up a fashion business is tougher than ever.
More than 95% of start-up fashion businesses fail, and not just because the product wasn’t good, or the designer didn’t hit the right creative notes, or the business idea was doomed to fail. More often than not, it is the lack of proper planning, funding and infrastructure that lets even the most creatively gifted designers down.
Therefore, our series of posts will try to uncover the secrets to success and provide a logical reading path for those of you who are thinking about setting up their own businesses.
• How do I go about legally setting up my business?
• How do I finance my business?
• How do I find manufacturers and make my collection come to life?
• How do I price my product?
• How do I go about creating the necessary PR and Social Media support for my business?
• How do I create an e-commerce website on a budget?
We hope to touch on these and many other topics in the months to come in the Toolkit Series, and look forward to receiving your feedback.
