Hello learners!
Today we have something inspiring to discuss, something that really is not just a concept but a way of living, Fashion!
Fashion can be described as a non-verbal way of communicating and expressing oneself. Fashion has been evolving at a rate faster than ever, and it is not even surprising. Fashion is helping people make careers and a living and has thousands of brands under its umbrella. Statistics show that the fashion industry market is worth 406 billion dollars. That’s Huge! This industry in itself is a multi-billion dollar enterprise standing strong.
Yet, a number of people fail in creating a fashion brand and sustaining it. Well, it is not as easy as it sounds, though. Building a successful brand requires a lot of planning, proper understanding of your audience, analysis, and rigorous hard work. Let the blog serve as a guide or a checklist for you to launch your next successful brand and sustain it well.
So, What Exactly Is A Fashion Brand?
A brand is a unique identity that’s associated with any business. A brand, in essence, is any businesses’ personality.
A fashion brand is generally a retail setup of clothing, footwear, or accessories. These clothing fashion brands typically sell the pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) clothes.
Over a million fashion brands exist around the world. Some succeed; most fail.
How To Get A Fashion Brand Off The Ground?
Launching your own fashion brand or label as a designer might sound extraordinarily challenging, but honestly speaking, if you have a proper plan, with the right kind of goals and objects, and a reliable guide to look up to, it isn’t that tough. It is absolutely possible to turn a small fashion brand into a massive nationwide brand.
Step 1 – Write A Proper Detailed Business Plan
Writing down a proper plan with all the details and requirements is the first step to get going. It will act as a roadmap and guide you on how you should go ahead with every step. Your goals and action steps in any business plan must be – feasible and measurable. Unpredictable situations come uninvited at any time, so one should always make a plan B for a business to survive and make it through the problems.
Step 2 – Understand Your Niche
The fashion industry is gigantic. There are umpteen specifications in it. As a business, you must always find and understand your niche. This will aid you in identifying your audience and serve them better.
Some profitable niches include – Sustainable fashion, thrifting, minimalistic designs.
Step 3 – Understand The Market You Are Intending To Target
Once you’ve found your niche, it is now time for you to analyze the target market. Where does your audience come from, where are they typically located, how much are they willing to pay for your product, etc. This step plays a vital role because one should understand the base before diving into it.
Step 4 – Get Your Business Registered
After research and analysis are done regarding the product type, the target audience, the pricing strategy, etc., it is now time to get your business registered legally. To register your business, get all the required licenses or permits and complete all the required formalities. You’ll likely need a shop act and a certificate of incorporation. A CA can help you. This step is necessary, and you must do all these tasks very meticulously.
Step 5 – Sourcing All The Raw Material Required
Now that all the necessary legalities have been completed, the production process comes into the picture. The sourcing of suitable raw fabrics and other raw materials required has to be done keeping the target audience in mind. Along with the right target audience, you also have to make sure that you keep in mind the business’s costs. These two parameters will help you make the right decisions while sourcing.
Step 6 – Get The Manufacturing Process On
To turn the mission, vision, and aim of your business into reality. At this point, you have to find the right manufacturer. At the same time, as you’re finding the right manufacturer, you also need to look at factors like the minimum order quantity (MOQ), the costing, the quality of manufacturing, and the goodwill. These factors will help you find the perfect manufacturer for your business.
Step 7 – Get A Pricing Strategy
Once the raw material is sourced, and the manufacturing process is set straight, you need to get a pricing strategy in place. In this process of costing, you have to walk the fine line of difference between making profits and not overpricing your product. This has to be very carefully considered after proper market research.
Step 8 – Decide The Market Or The Place To Sell The Products
Be it online or offline, make sure you cover your target groups. Choose the most suitable place close to the market, where your raw materials are available, easily accessed by customers, and is easy to reach. These factors should be considered when looking for a perfect marketplace!
Step 9 – Market Your Fashion Brand
In times where competition is at its peak, marketing plays a significant role in any brand’s success. It is always a great idea to get more eyeballs on your products and offerings that indirectly result in more sales. Marketing and promotional efforts planned well and executed appropriately put you on the right path and give you outstanding results for sure.
So, that’s pretty much it about creating and setting a fashion brand up.
How To Sustain The Brand?
Now that we’ve read and understood the process of creating a fashion brand let us get more details into how to sustain a fashion brand. As mentioned in the beginning, a lot of fashion brands start-up but very few sustain. Here we will get insights into how to ace the game when talking about a fashion brand.
1. Have A Well-set Pricing Strategy Depending Upon Your Customers’ Willingness To Pay
Overpricing and underpricing can both be harmful. To sustain a brand, make sure the pricing strategy is right on point.
Don’t be afraid to take feedback from your customers and make amends to your strategy with time.
2. Continuously Improve And Develop Your Product
Change is the only constant. Constant product development, making new changes, and always bringing something new to the table will help you in the long run and help you reach your goals.
3. Keep Working And Building Your Network
Connecting with new people is an essential aspect of business growth and sustainability. Keep working towards maintaining healthy relationships with everyone in the business space.
4. Keep Measuring Your Successes; Big Or Small
Every campaign you work on or every minor change that you make, note it down. Measure the growth or fall in your business – and analyze how that affected your business. Keep track, measure everything!
5. Keep Working Consistently And Stay Determined
Nothing comes easy. You have to work consistently and be determined towards your goals. Keep working in the right direction, with the right motivation and guidance- you will indeed create and sustain a huge fashion label.
I hope you liked this piece of information. Stay tuned for more. You can also check out our upcoming live workshops about fashion and enroll to learn more about them.
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