Key Fears of Starting a Fashion Line: How Do I Run a Business?

The dream to launch a fashion line is very romantic; however, the reality of creating a business can be a nightmare. This step can paralyze you with fear. In this blog, I’ll give you some helpful tips to overcome your fears and move forward.

Creating a new fashion line goes far beyond designing a stylish garment that people love. It requires organizing a business structure to create, launch, sell, and sustain that line. That demands an entirely different skill set than most innovative fashion designers are experienced with, and it can cause fears that could prevent you from ever starting. If you have never run a business in your life, managing all the elements that go into a successful enterprise can be frightening. Don’t panic! You got this. 

The key is to learn what you need to know, and for the tasks that are not within your skillset bring in an experienced team to advise you and accomplish those tasks. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Other more experienced people can often do it better and help you lighten your load and sleep well at night. 

What is Your Mission

Before going through the stages of creating a business, it is important to understand “why” you want to create a business. Specifically in fashion, knowing your “why” will be your guiding light throughout running the business. Perhaps you want to make clothing for babies with utility in mind. This is a great mission. Maybe you have an aesthetic that resonates with you and what you believe in. This is great as well. While it is important to make money, the overall mission should go beyond just making money and getting rich quickly. Creating a fashion line takes time, love and care. It should be personally fulfilling to you, the creator. 

Use the exercise below to help you find your mission:

I want to help (specify the person) by offering (select a specific product or genre of product and purpose) 

Example: I want to help (new mother’s navigate the world of newborns) by offering (Baby bibs that are both stylish, safe, utilitarian, etc.) 

Do your research

Knowledge is power and just like you want to research your niche and the market competition your line will be competing with, you also want to do your research on what makes an efficiently operating fashion enterprise. There are many ways to find out what you need to know to design and operate a business. Finding a mentor with fashion business experience is a positive step to put you on the right track. Simply reading my book, “The Foolproof Plan To Kickstart Your Clothing Line” can help reduce your fears and give you great business information you can use to get started. Reading books, observing other companies, and asking experts can help fast track your business acumen and make you feel more confident about the decisions you are going to need to make.

Find a community 

When it comes to starting a business it can be daunting to do it all alone. Having a support group that you lean on and look for questions, answers, tips, tricks, and real life stories is an invaluable resource.  Explore facebook groups to understand more about your niche and about business operations. Join groups with other fashion entrepreneurs who have experienced the journey you are about to take. Hire experienced experts in the fashion industry, like V.Mora, who have real-world experience to guide you. Years of experience and past mistakes and victories can be priceless in helping you to avoid the mistakes and maximize the triumphs. They can save you enormous amounts of time, money, and heartache in the long run. 

When you are armed with research, information, knowledge, and an experienced support system, you will develop the right mindset to set up a solid operation and an efficient structure to produce, market, and sell your new fashion line. 

Financial structure: Legal & Accounting 

Before you spend the first dollar, it is important to set up the appropriate business entity that will allow you to operate and grow your business. Your business will need a name and a legal structure that will allow you to collect revenue, pay expenses and taxes, and grow into the future. It is a good idea to consult a corporate attorney and a public accountant certified in your state to help guide you with all the decisions you need to make to build your business foundation. 

You will need to ask questions like should I incorporate? What type of legal business organization will work best for me personally and my business? How do I incorporate? What kind of bank account do I need? How do I account for expenses and revenues? What are the taxes I need to pay and when?

Of course, you are going to need a filing and accounting system to keep track of expenses, revenues, payroll, and other financial events. Some entrepreneurs like plug and play accounting software, like Quickbooks. There are other solutions available and you will have to make the choice which one is right for your company. 

These choices all form the foundation of your business and when planned properly, they can help give you the financial structure to launch successfully and grow into the future.

Operational structure

In addition to the financial structure of the business, you will have to develop the operational structure of your enterprise. Again, consulting experienced people who have successfully formed ongoing operations is the best way to do this. You will need to find out how to create a website? How to set up the company’s email system? What sort of shopping cart and backend system should you set up to sell and fulfill your online sales? What credit cards should you accept? What payment system should you use to collect the sales? 

There are turnkey websites, shopping carts, and email marketing systems like Shopify, Square Space, and Klaviyo. They can often simplify what can be very complicated.  If you choose one of these, you need to decide which one works best for you and how you intend to conduct your business. 

Cash Flow management

One of the most significant business elements that determines the success or failure of a start-up is cash flow management.  Simply put, it is important to know how much money is going out of the company and how much is coming back in on a daily, weekly, and month to month basis. A company that runs out of cash often fails. 

You must learn how to do realistic monthly, six month, and yearly cash flow projections. In the beginning you may have a lot of money flowing out and very few sales bringing revenue in. You must plan for that, and also plan for contingencies which are unexpected events that can affect the amount of cash you have on hand to operate. You may show huge profits on paper; however, if your buyers are on extended payment terms, you may not collect the actual revenue until your cash has already run dry and your employees, manufacturers, and vendors have abandoned your business. 

Again, if you are not an expert in dealing with cash flow, it is important to ask a certified accountant to show you how to project your cash flow and plan for unexpected contingencies.

Employees, contractors & vendors… Who do I  choose? 

You will need other people to make your business run smoothly. You will have to answer questions like: Do I hire people and hire them full-time on salary or pay individuals, freelancers, contractors, or vendors for the specific job? There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It depends on your company and what the task is that you need them to do. That is why it is often smarter to hire an experienced mentor, like V.Mora, who has set up many successful fashion operations. They can give you the wisdom of their past experience to help you make the right decisions.  

Simplifying and automating 

Recently, there have been many software solutions developed that can help you simplify and automate what once were redundant, labor intensive tasks. These solutions can help you automate your accounting, scheduling, project management, marketing, communication, and other business activities. It is important to do research to find out which of these solutions truly streamlines your work flow. Using Software as a Solution (SaaS) can be a very effective way to cut labor expenses, save time , stay better organized, and operate far more efficiently and effectively. 

Taking your fashion designs from the drawing board and launching your line in the real world requires many skills and talents that even the most creative designers are unfamiliar with. Setting up your business is one enormous task that is critical to your fashion line’s success. Don’t be afraid of all the various elements you will need to decide. 

Learn as much as you can about how a fashion business operates, join a community of other fashion entrepreneurs, consult a mentor with fashion industry experience, and get solid legal, accounting, and other professional advice. The upfront expense to pay experienced, seasoned, and licensed experts can result in priceless savings, reduced personal liability, and a more organized, thriving fashion business that  grows with you year after year. 

Stuck on product Production? At V.Mora we can help you through the entire production process from designing, to sourcing and so on through our Production Development services. If you are in need of the following Development and Production services: 

• Sourcing 

• Technical sketches 

• Pattern Making

• Prototype making 

• Sample Making

• Fittings 

• Digitizing and Grading

• Marker Making

• Manufacturing

Please contact us at: vmorainquiry@vmora.com