If you are a person with a good sense of fashion and an impressive aesthetic, you must have thought many times about owning a personal clothing brand. However, creating your own clothing brand is not an easy task for anyone. In addition to your unique design philosophy, you must be prepared for many other conditions under which your apparel brand can operate and operate effectively. You can find a clothing manufacturer to custom your clothing, and start your own clothing brand.

In this guide, I will show the ultimate guide on how to start your clothing brand online.

What to consider before starting a clothing store

Before we start doing something, we need to consider the factors that could affect the business. So what factors should you consider when opening a clothing line?

Is starting a clothing line worth it?

First, you need to ask yourself a question: Is it worth starting a fashion brand? This is important not only for creating fashion brands, but also for other businesses. You can be a very creative person; The concept of fashion clothing keeps coming to your mind. But that’s not enough. Companies in the fashion industry need not only beautiful clothes, but also a lot of effort to build a strong brand.

The fact is that the fashion industry is always facing intense competition, with hundreds of fashion start-ups set up every day. Do you have enough capital to allow your fledgling company to compete directly with other companies? Or does your brand have a long-term and sustainable business strategy? Or are you just willing to devote most of your time and energy to making substantial progress, despite the risk of completing the work? These are things to consider when judging whether the fashion brand is worth your money.

How much does it cost to start a clothing brand?

After you have a firm commitment, the second question is how much it costs to start a fashion brand. Honestly, this is a huge problem for any businessman and woman, but unfortunately it does not have a definitive answer. I can’t tell you that you need so much money to own a clothing brand. This is unrealistic.

However, I can give you an estimate and a list of several factors to consider when calculating the cost of your fashion brand. To calculate costs, you must pay attention to factors such as brand positioning, production volume, site cost, sales website design, advertising strategy. Depending on these factors and the type of company you are targeting, you will be able to estimate the following costs.

For small businesses, that means companies that don’t plan to expand their business or don’t have to pay taxes, and you have to spend about $100-300. This cost includes products that are not of high quality and you do not need product promotions.

For medium-sized companies (whose products are of good quality and are expected to expand in the future), the cost is between $500-10,000. This includes the cost of producing high-quality products, buying new design funds from artists, transportation, online marketing, and more.

For large companies (which have diversified and high-quality products and want to expand their brands). To target such companies, you need to spend more than $25,000. This cost will be used to diversify and improve product quality, conduct large marketing and sales activities, store and warehouse rentals, transportation costs, etc.

How to start a clothing brand: Step-by-step guide

Decide which products to sell

For the fashion industry, choosing the product you want to sell is as important as choosing the future direction of the brand. Your product will represent your style and brand positioning. So if you want to create a clothing brand, you better identify the type of clothes you want to sell and who you want to sell.

Choose a business model for your product line

Once you decide what you want to sell, choose the right business model for your brand. There are three main options for establishing a business model in the fashion industry: print on demand, own-brand clothing lines, custom tailoring, and stitched clothing lines. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. Think carefully about building a successful business empire.

Organize your brand

Even if you don’t have a detailed and complete business plan, you should outline the elements of organizing your brand. These factors include:

Place of business

You will sell items online or in traditional stores. For you, where will be a prestigious place to start a business.

Human Resources

You need to have a mature workforce of designers, cashiers, salesmen and more.
Catalog: Help you list products for production, storage, etc.

Sales & Marketing

Choosing the right marketing and sales campaign will help you get closer to your customers.

Funds

You need to balance income and expenditure and rotate funds for the next project.

Choose a Brand Name

An impressive name will catch the eye and impress customers. Therefore, choosing a less complex, easy to remember name, especially it will help your brand better positioned in the eyes of customers.

Get your product to the manufacturer

When the planning process is complete, it’s time to put your product into production. At this stage, the most important thing is to find the right manufacturing team. Start by searching and asking for reputable factory or manufacturing teams. Select manufacturers that meet these requirements based on product quality and budget requirements. After selecting the manufacturer, you should test and test the quality of the small product.

Test your products

Now, it’s time for you to check whether the market accepts the product. Bring your products to markets, schools, uploads to e-commerce sites, social networks. Remember to save feedback and comments from customers who have used the product. It will help monitor business status and check product growth. It is also important to test new products before formally distributing them to the market, so that they can understand the situation and develop a suitable sales plan.

Start selling your products

The big time has come. After a series of ideas and tests, it’s time to sell your clothes. However, there are several things you need to do before bringing a product to market:

Determine the price of the product

Widely promote your brand and products
Specific plans to determine prices and promotions
Complete packaging and transportation process
Ensure Customer Service
Plan ahead with the manufacturer for the next season, or if the product sells well, for further processing

What makes a clothing brand successful?

The success of a fashion brand depends on the following factors:

Brand
By building a strong brand, the success of your business is almost in your hands. A strong brand will help increase the visibility of the product in the customer, so that it can reach potential customers. In addition, the brand is not only about the quality of the product, but also represents the company’s lifestyle and principles.

Quality
Clothes with skewed joints and poor fabric quality can never attract customers and re-buy your products. This is why quality assurance of your products is essential. So, whatever happens, make sure your clothes are of stable quality.

Design
For the fashion industry, your design is your voice and your statement to your customers. A successful design does not need to be too complex, but must have its own personality, especially if it is to suit your target audience. Your corporate logo can help you attract customers and target customers. When a logo distinguishes your brand from its competitors, it becomes an eternal symbol.

Market Positioning
In this industry, it is unwise to try to design outfits that will please everyone. Focusing on a specific customer base will bring you many benefits, such as easy access to markets, reasonable prices, less competition, and stable customer base loyalty. So, against the backdrop of the current new coronary pneumonia epidemic, you can instead print shirts with slogans and call for solidarity in the fight against disease rather than sewing a simple T-shirt that has no meaning.

Shipping strategy for your clothing brand
Last but not least, you need to find a reasonable and economical transportation plan for yourself. Shipping is an integral part of the fashion industry, especially in today’s technological developments. But how to make shipping less expensive, and the product still intact in the hands of customers, has been a challenge for the brand.

Therefore, to plan a delivery service for your brand, you must consider the following factors:

How to charge customers for shipping

There are several options for you to refer to, such as charging the customer the exact shipping fee, charging the customer a fixed shipping fee, charging the customer a free shipping fee above a certain threshold, charging the customer a free shipping fee based on the customer’s location, and charging the customer a free shipping fee for any order.

Calculation of Transport Costs

Transportation costs are calculated based on the carrier’s cost, location of delivery and destination. There are other costs, such as the size and volume of the goods. You should consult with the transport unit for the most reasonable cost.

How to process returns

When processing returns, you have two main options: prepaid return shipping fees, or if the customer wants to return, they will pay shipping fees.

Transport should work together: selecting a reputable shipping company will help you reduce costs and better manage orders.

Use of warehouses

This is also an important part of transporting goods. Warehouses are usually associated with transport units, so you can choose a warehouse by considering the area and the time of transport.

Taxes and other expenses: Taxes and charges also play a role in total transportation costs. You need to be aware of local taxes, fees and countries where products are shipped.

Conclusion
These are our guidelines to help you understand how to create a successful clothing brand. Hopefully, these guidelines will help you find the right and appropriate path to development. You may feel overwhelmed and stressed when you take the first step in laying the foundation for your brand. But to continue to believe in the path you choose, you will soon succeed.