It can be a daunting experience to start your own clothing label. However, with the right knowledge, you can start a clothing line with ease.
If you have always dreamed of starting your own clothing label, then this article is for you! In it, you’ll read about some of the challenges that come with starting a clothing line and tips on how to start one. You’ll also read about marketing strategies that can help grow your business and improve your branding.
Challenges of Starting Your Own Clothing Line Sydney
Starting any business is not an easy undertaking. Starting your own clothing line in Australia can be especially challenging because you’re not only launching your own venture; you are also often leaving behind the security of working for someone else.
This is what we’ll start with: some challenges that people face when they start their own clothing label and tips to get around them. You may find yourself in one or all of the situations provided. But you can be assured that with this guide, you’ll have a tool in your arsenal for getting around them! Let’s begin.
#1 Having Capital
It can be a challenge to start your own clothing label because of the lack of capital. Some even find it difficult to convince financial institutions to lend them money.
Luckily, there are a few ways to start your own clothing label with little or no capital. You can use personal savings; you can get credit from friends and family members, or you could take out a loan from providers like Kiva.
Oftentimes though, it’s not easy for small business owners without collateral to borrow money. That’s why it’s important to get creative with financing like crowdfunding or setting up an affiliate program that would earn commissions on sales generated from other people’s clothing lines.
#2 Difficulty estimating future customer demands
It is difficult to estimate how much of each type of clothing a customer will want in the future. For example, someone who wears large shirts might not be interested in buying another one for six months because they are on vacation and don’t need any more clothes with them; It’s also difficult to tell which colours and design sell the best without previous insights. To solve this, it’s important to start with an initial order of a smaller quantity.
#3 Increasing Production Cost
With the price of raw materials and labour increasing, it becomes more expensive to produce clothes.
Producing a quality product that is priced competitively with other retailers often means relying on sales volume from one or two seasons of clothing lines before production costs exceed profits generated from those garments.
#4 Creating New Designs
The competitive market environment means that new designs are often needed if your company is to maintain a fresh image.
This can be difficult because the fashion industry moves in cycles and there’s only so much creativity one designer can have. It takes time for new design ideas to come out too, which means they’re not always available when you need them. To produce new designs quickly, you can collaborate with other designers, or outsource the work to a design firm that produces results based on your specifications.
So these are the common challenges to start your own clothing label, now let’s go to the tips.
Tips To Start Your Own Clothing Label
#1 Know your target market
Have you ever heard of the saying “selling to everyone is selling to no one”? It’s impossible to appeal to everyone because we all have different preferences. What you need to do is pick a specific group of people to target, and know them well.
There are two things you need to know about your target market.
- What type of clothing they wear and how often do they buy it?
- How much money can they spend on clothes every month, what’s their average monthly income?
It may sound like a lot but once you start gathering this information, you’ll find your business having more clarity and direction.
#2 Know your style
You need to know what type of clothes you want to create. It can be anything from streetwear, high-end designer fashion or casual wear that would go great with jeans and a tee-shirt. You can often find the answer to this by referring to your research. It’s best to match the style of the group of people you want to target.
#3 You don’t need to have a large team to start.
All you need is a few people who are committed to the success of your clothing label. If you don’t have any graphic designer, hire someone on UpWork or Fiverr instead of hiring a full-time staff member. Soon enough, you’ll find your team growing as you start getting more orders.
#4 Hire Important Roles
The most important roles to hire when starting your own clothing label are a designer, a sales coordinator, and an accountant. The designer will help create sketches for the clothing line, a sales coordinator will handle all of your customer service and marketing efforts, and an accountant will help you with taxes.
#5 Have your designs manufactured
Partner up with a business known for quality and reasonable prices. Partner up with a business dedicated to providing clothes of high quality, comfort and functionality.
In conclusion, starting your own clothing label is a big task. It’s something that you need to be prepared for and have the time, money, and skills required. But with enough research and careful planning, you will be able to start your own clothing label.
Are you ready to start your own clothing line in Australia? We might be able to help! Send us a message today.