Are you particularly comfortable with fashion, and is it a topic that interests you? If you’re looking for a way to use your passion to make money on the internet, you may want to consider creating your own fashion brand.
As long as you make the right choices and think carefully before you start, you can hope to build something solid and profitable online: here are the 4 steps to get there.
Get to know your potential target
Before creating a website and imagining what products you will sell on your clothing store, start with a thorough market research. Take the time to look at what your competitors are doing, the other online sellers who are in the segment you want to exploit.
Survey as much as possible the population that will be buying your products: try to understand the consumers’ expectations and their buying habits (for example, according to the profile of your target clientele, should you sell t-shirts first?) In order to enrich your knowledge, you can both read up on the internet, consult polls and surveys, conduct them yourself and promote them on social networks, but also interview other established professionals to get their valuable advice.
At the end of this market study, you should know your competitors perfectly, know which suppliers you may have to deal with, master all the laws and rules that govern your sector and have a very clear idea of the expectations of your future customers.
Create your brand by maturing each choice
Creating your own clothing brand cannot be improvised: each decision deserves a long reflection to avoid certain mistakes that you might regret later on. Your market study must allow you to have an idea of the universe on which you will place yourself, the one that speaks to your target.
Whether it is your brand name, the colors you will use on your communication supports, your logo and even your values and your philosophy, anticipate all these details in order to create a unique identity, which will allow you to make the difference.
Seek advice from marketing professionals if needed, as they can help you better establish yourself as a new brand and guide you on the first essential strategic choices. This support may represent a cost, but it will be quickly amortized if you start correctly.
In the event that you are not an artist yourself, you will need the help of graphic designers to create your logo, as well as developers to build your website. Here again, if it can be relevant to compare several quotes in order to save some money, prefer the experienced interlocutors and do not systematically go to the cheapest offer.
Develop a business plan
Before creating a company, regardless of its sector of activity, you must draw up a business plan to ensure the potential profitability of the model. This financing plan will allow you to prove, with figures and projections, that the business you imagine is viable. This document can help you later on to obtain bank loans if you need them.
In this plan, you will need to consider both sources of income and expenses. Consider all the links in the chain you will build around your brand, i.e. manufacturing costs, salaries of any employees or subcontractors, rent, etc.
Here again, it may be worthwhile to get professional help in writing your business plan.
Declare your company and register your brand name
In order to formalize the arrival on the market of your own clothing brand, you must declare the creation of your company. This can take several forms: micro-enterprise, sole proprietorship (EI), sole proprietorship with limited liability (EIRL), one-man business with limited liability (EURL), simplified one-man business corporation (SASU), simplified business corporation (SAS), etc.
In order to choose, you need to know the social and fiscal impacts of each status and determine which one will be the most interesting for you, considering your situation and your ambitions. An accountant/legal expert can guide you in this process and ensure that you launch your business in the best conditions, without taking too many financial or legal risks.
Once your business is ready to start, it is time to register your brand name, in particular to protect it and to avoid that a competitor appropriates your ideas. To do this, go to the online tool of the INPI where you can protect a name, but also a logo, drawings or ideas.