Starting any business with very little money or no money at all or hell even a lot of money takes a very smart and creative individual or team to succeed. Sometimes all it takes is understanding you are in it for the community you will build and the revenue will come once you are supported.
I would say it's common knowledge to know it is scary to start your own business and you will feel you are alone a majority of the time, but the reward can be exponentially rewarded when you succeed.
Let's just remember I am not that person who made millions in the fashion business (yet), but I am progressively getting there and here are my tips that I have learned throughout the process.
1. With every business it starts with an Idea, but the ones who actually started a business has executed their idea into real life.
2. With clothing you can be as simple as drawing an image on a napkin, asking a local graphic designer to put it into vector format, and then putting the image onto a screen to start printing yourself onto t-shirt.
3. How will you sell your product? This is the biggest question you can ask while everything else is somewhat simple these days. Is it:
- On a website and drop shipping the products
- To locals by word of mouth or booths
- Partnership with other established organizations or leverage off social media
Learn the cost that is associated with each option is important when thinking about your long term goals.
4. Pay your taxes and be a business not a hobby. This is important on the professional side of things and if you don't understand, you should figure out while establishing yourself or preferable before hand so you don't have to go backwards.
5. Once you start selling is when I at least started getting trademarks and patents on designs. Once you validate your need and your target market, you can start being more business savvy around it.
If you at least give these 5 things some thought before and during you start your business, you will not be caught off guard when life happens. The best thing you can do is find people who you trust that want to be apart of the team. Having a partner or two will help you start taking business more serious and also finding a partner that is your opposite is ideal in the sense if you're the master of you, find someone who compliments your weaknesses.
-CHEERS