the years, I have been involved with plenty of other brands and have seen companies start from scratch and go on to sell in the multi-millions. The main steps I would say are:
1) Know how you will stand out from the rest of the other brands out there.
2) Have a clear idea of who your customer is and why they would choose your brand as opposed to the thousands of other t-shirt brands in the world.
3) Create a business plan. It doesn’t have to be super complicated, but you need some sort of guide for your vision, your mission and your goals. If you don’t have a clear vision of where you want your company to be in one, three or five years, then you will just be spending money and time with no real direction.
You can start with a few thousand dollars, but in my experience, to really create a functional brand and be able to sell to large stores, the tipping point is to do tradeshows like MAGIC and Agenda and basically hang with the big boys. For this, you will need at least $50,000. This can take a long time, which is fine, and this should in no way discourage anyone, but it should be the monetary goal for someone starting up. This will help with production costs, marketing, overhead and a small amount to be able to pay a part-time employee. If you budget correctly, that should last you about a year.
If you don’t have the capital, you can factor it with a finance company. Basically they will pay for your invoices for a certain percentage of your POs (purchase orders).
Create an online store and learn how to use social networking sites to market your brand. Exhibit at as many trade shows as you can. The more frequently buyers see your product, the more they will recognize you. It takes time, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a lot of sales the first few seasons.
As corny as it sounds, don’t give up. You will face many hurdles, but if you keep at it, somehow things just happen. So if you want it bad enough, you will make it in the industry.
Lastly, have fun with your company and don’t let the daily grind make you forget why you have this business in the first place. Think of the business as a “game,” and play the game to win. You can create the “rules” or use other people’s rules and change them to fit your company. When you can view it from that perspective, it makes the whole thing a lot more fun and enjoyable.
Karlo Reyes is the founder of Jeepney.
(www.JeepneyClothing.com)
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