If you’re looking for ways to start a clothing brand without having any funds, then read on! We’ve laid out some steps for you to follow.
Many people believe that you must have an advanced degree in design to become a successful designer. However, there are plenty of successful freelance stylists who have achieved success without any previous training.
With sheer determination and hard work, however, they were able to achieve success.
16 Steps to Start a Clothing Line with No Money
If you’re one who is creative and loves the design aspect of clothes, starting an online fashion store might be for you. Read on to learn how you can start your own fashion store.
1. Understand the Market
Fashion and apparel experts predict the high growth of these industries worldwide in the coming year. But like any other business, conducting detailed market research is important before making any investment decisions.
The clothing industry is a very competitive one. To learn more about your competitors, products, and prices. Also, explore any gaps and opportunities and accordingly develop your own clothing line.
2. Find your niche
If you’re starting out with a limited budget, it’s important to choose a specific market where there’s already some demand for your product but not too many competitors.
A niche product is a smaller version of a larger product. Below we’ve listed some famous niche clothing brands for ideas.
- Nicole Miller
- Levi’s
- Burberry
- Monolo Blahnik
3. Write a Business Plan for Your Clothing Company
Start by collecting information about the market for your clothing brand. Then, use that information to create a detailed clothing brand marketing strategy.
4. Name Your Clothing Line
When choosing a name for a clothing company, choose one that people can easily remember and relate to your products.
Read more about naming your business here.
5. Register your business
You need to register your company if you want to operate a legal and compliant company. Each country and state has its own rules regarding how companies are formed.
If you’re from the US, forming an LLC gives you some extra advantages over sole proprietorships. It protects your personal assets from your company’s assets if you run into financial trouble.
6. Get the Necessary Licenses
Before starting any new venture, check with the local competent authorities and get the relevant licenses and permissions needed. You may be fined if you don’t comply with these requirements.
7. Open a Business Bank Account
Business accounts are essential for any business owner. They help protect your personal finances from business losses and allow you to easily file taxes each year.
8. Set up Business Accounting
To understand the financial status of a business, you need to choose an appropriate bookkeeping system and establish its processes. It also helps in preparing annual tax filings.
9. Buy a Business Insurance
Bu Ying business insurance: another important way to protect your business is by buying appropriate business insurance. The most common insurance that business owners procure is general liability insurance. It will save you in the unfortunate event of financial loss.
Read: What types of business insurance every small business needs
10. Design Clothes for your Line
Once you’ve completed the official part of starting up your own fashion brand, it is now the operative stage. Create original designs for your clothes so that customers find them different and purchase them.
You don’t need to be an expert designer if you’re not confident. Hire one if you’re unsure of yourself.
11. Partner with a Printer
The next step is printing your designs. Contact printers are willing to offer you high-end services at an affordable cost. You can also check out online platforms to accomplish the task. These sites allow you to upload your files and pay them directly through credit cards. Online printing platforms do the heavy lifting for you, including payment processing, fulfillment, and shipping.
12. Price your products
In order to make money online, you must know how to sell products. You can start selling products through Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program. Here you don’t need to worry about inventory, storage, shipping, and customer service because these things are taken care of by Amazon. You just need to focus on marketing strategy and sales skills.
If your product has competition and similar items are available on the market at lower prices, then you should consider going for price-driven pricing. However, if there are no or few competing products on the market and your product offers something special, then you should consider setting up a price point that reflects its uniqueness.
13. Calculate the Cost of Starting a Clothing Line
If you’re a newbie in the fashion business, start by focusing on a specific niche. You can start your own brand for less than $500 now.
14. Get Funding
To start off, it is extremely difficult to gain funding from financial institutions. However, for beginners, crowdfunding can be a better option. It is advised to launch your clothing line by yourself and take support from friends and family.
When you start making some cash, it’s time to talk to investors. They want to see that you know what you’re doing before they give you any of their hard-earned dollars.
15. Decide where to sell your clothes.
Finding ways to get your clothes into people’s hands is one of the most important parts of starting a clothing line. However, if you don’t have enough resources, you should start by selling your goods through online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.
You could also give out free samples of your products.
16. Create a Website
Today, having a site is of the highest importance for any company. It holds true for clothesline businesses too. Having your own site will not only help to get a wider readership but also in building a serious brand. Creating a site today is incredibly cheap.
Check out our list of the top 10 online tools that will allow you to build your site without any coding skills.
FAQs on Starting a Clothing Line Business
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Clothing Line?
The start-up costs of starting a clothing brand depend on the size of the operations. Factors that will affect the costs include printing expenses, raw materials, design costs, marketing costs, and shipping costs.
However, according to current prices, starting a small clothing line requires an initial investment of between $500 and $1,500. Starting a mid-sized clothing line costs between $1,500 and $5,000. Starting a full-size clothing line usually requires at least $30,000.
How Much Does a Clothing line Business Owner Make in a Year?
A typical clothing brand owner earns an average of between $50,000 and $60,000 per year. But the earnings will vary depending on the production volume and promotional expenses.
How to Source Raw Material for Clothing Line Business?
Buying fabrics and other raw materials can be done either online or offline. But for large quantities, buying from online marketplaces would be cheaper. For small quantities, local distributors and retailers should be considered.
Finally, if you want to start a fashion company, you need to put some serious thought into it. You must devote yourself to the trade and prepare your company according to your resources.
You may like to read: How to Start a Successful B2B Business: 20+ B2B Business Ideas
