How to start a clothing business — from head to toe and ev...

Steps to start a clothing business

Plan your clothing business
Create a web and social media presence
Fund your venture
Tackle legal matters
Market your business
Get materials and manufacturing right
Use the right software
Handle business processes
Take the next steps

So you want to start a clothing business? Congratulations! This is an exciting time filled with lots of possibilities.

Whether you’re a tailor, a fashion designer, or a reseller, there’s a lot to think about when starting your own clothing business. But don’t worry — we’re here to help.

In this article, we’ll cover all the basics of starting a clothing business, from planning and establishing a web presence to marketing and funding. By the end, you’ll be ready to start building your own fashion empire.

Dumping out the handbag: Planning your clothing business

No matter what kind of business you want to start, you need to put a lot of thought into the planning process. Brainstorming your business idea, coming up with a business plan, and meeting with advisors are just a few things to consider as you lay the groundwork for your new business venture.

Brainstorming

The first step is to come up with a great idea for your clothing business. This can be anything from starting a trendy new fashion line to opening a vintage clothing store. Once you have your idea, it’s time to start fleshing it out.

Take everything rattling around in your brain and put it down somewhere. Mind mapping is a great technique for doing that, but there’s nothing wrong with a notepad and a pencil.

If you do go the mind mapping route, FreeMind is an excellent choice. It’s free, accessible on most devices, and easy to use. It also has a great selection of keyboard shortcuts to help you quickly add and rearrange ideas.

Make sure to get as detailed as possible during your brainstorming. What kind of clothing do you want to sell? What’s your target market? How will you promote your business? Get all of your ideas out of your head and record them somewhere you can refer back to later.

A professional business plan

The next step is to turn those great ideas into a comprehensive business plan. This is where you’ll start to make your ideas presentable to advisors, lenders, and investors.

A business plan is basically a road map for your business. It’ll help you figure out what your business should look like and how it should operate.

There are a ton of different resources out there that can help you write a business plan. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has a great guide that walks you through the process step by step.

Advice and mentorship

Once you have your business plan, it’s time to start meeting with advisors who can help you make your business a reality.

The SBA can help you get in touch with local advisors who can assist you with every aspect of your business. These advisors are typically retirees who have spent their lives running successful businesses of their own and they share their expertise with the community for free.

Before you go any further, you need to think about your business name. You might go with the first thing that pops in your head, but it’s important to do your research first before deciding what to call your business.

You’ll use your business name on your website, social media, business cards, marketing materials, and more. So it’s important to choose a name that’s not only available but one that you’re proud of and that accurately represents your business.

Domain names

Every business needs a website, but domain names can be difficult to come by and it can be even more difficult or expensive to get the perfect one.

Nowadays, it’s a good idea to choose your website first and your business name second. Here are some points to remember while you’re looking for a domain name:

Keep it short and simple. The shorter your domain name, the easier it is for customers to remember and type into a search engine or share by word of mouth.
Avoid using numbers and hyphens. While numbers and hyphens can be helpful in making your domain name unique, they can also be confusing for customers.
Make it easy to pronounce and spell. Not everybody who visits your site will be coming from a link. You want your customers to be able to tell their friends about your website, but if your domain name is difficult to pronounce or spell, that won’t be possible.
Avoid using slang or jargon. While you may be familiar with the latest industry jargon, your customers might not be. Stick to language that everyone will understand.
Make it relevant to your business. Your domain name should give customers a clear idea of what they can expect from your website. If you sell shoes, for example, a domain name likewww.buymyshoes.com would be more relevant thanwww.wiggleyourtoes.com.
It’s best to use a .com extension, but it’s not necessary. There are tons of great new domain extensions, like .clothes, .fashion, and .shoes, to name a few. And while they do seem to make it easier to get a perfect domain, .com is locked into most people’s brains. So you may be able to snag florasfine.fashion, but people will often still typeflorasfine.fashion.com.
Consider alternative domain names. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. A good dot-com is very hard to find. Think outside the box and be patient.

Social media profile names don’t take as much work to come up with as your domain name. You can safely add numbers and a couple of extra short words to your profile names because people will understand that you’re trying to be unique.

And don’t worry — you can almost always change your social media handles down the road if you want to.

Checking the price tag: Funding your venture

Funding a new business is one of the biggest hurdles you’re going to face. But with the right planning and preparation, you can see it through. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you start looking to finance your clothing business:

Know your numbers. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to have a clear understanding of your financial situation before seeking funding. As we covered before, you need to have a solid business plan in place that outlines your expected costs, revenue streams, and profitability. This will give you a much better chance of securing funding.
Be realistic about your goals. It’s important to have realistic expectations when seeking funding for your business. Keep in mind that investors are taking a risk by investing in your company, so don’t ask for more money than you need. Be clear about how you plan to use the funds and what you expect to achieve with them.
Be prepared to answer tough questions. When you’re talking to potential investors, be prepared to get hit with some hardball questions. They’ll want to know everything about your business, so be honest and transparent in your responses. Be ready to discuss your business model, competition, and plans for growth.
Have a backup plan. It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan in place in case your first choice for funding falls through.
Be patient. Funding a business can take time. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t receive funding right away. Keep doing the work you love to keep yourself occupied and positive in the meantime.

Financing sources

Thanks to the internet, there are more ways than ever to make money. You can also follow more traditional routes, such as asking for loans and help from family and friends.

Remember that nine out of 10 businesses fail. You shouldn’t give up on your dreams, but you also shouldn’t financially devastate yourself in your pursuit of them either.

Here’s a list of funding suggestions you can draw inspiration from, but don’t follow them blindly. Talk to your SBA advisor, an accountant, or a financial planner before taking any of these courses of action:

Crowdfunding: This is a great way to secure funds for two reasons. Crowdfunding helps you get your business off the ground and also acts as market validation. If you can’t convince people to pay a few bucks in advance for your clothes, you may need to go back to the drawing board. This also forces you to really flesh out your idea so you can create a convincing pitch.
Bootstrapping: Try to sell your products on other platforms to make a profit, which you can then put toward financing your own business. If you’re creating garments by hand, for example, you can always earn money by selling them on Etsy or another online market to start. This is another way you can get a good idea of whether there’s actually a market for your product. And it can give you more experience before you jump into the deep end.
Investing in yourself: Don’t clean out your personal savings based on the words of this article, but if you can put some of your own funds into your new venture, you may be able to finance your clothing business yourself. Just be sure to take advice from a financial expert before you do so.
Family or friends: If you have a friend or relative who believes in your vision, consider asking them to invest in your business.

Ironing the seams: Tackling legal matters

There are always different legal matters to take into consideration before starting a business. Here’s a list of some of the things you should think about:

Incorporation: Incorporating your business can protect you from being held personally responsible for the debts and liabilities of the business. There are a number of things to consider when planning to incorporate. There are different types of corporations and advantages to incorporating in other states besides your own. Do your research and talk to your advisors, investors, and anyone you may know with experience in this field.
Federal and state tax IDs: You’ll need to get a federal tax Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is basically the Social Security number for your business. You’ll use this number to open a bank account, file your taxes, and more. You may also need to get a state Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), depending on which state you’re incorporated in.
Licenses and permits: This is another area where you’ll need to do some research and ask for help. If you’re only selling your clothes online, you may be OK with nothing more than your EIN. But laws vary from city to city, state to state, and country to country. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, or even if you’re just selling at a farmers market, you’ll need to get the proper licenses and permits.
Copyrights: You’ll want to copyright your designs in order to prevent others from stealing and selling them without giving you credit. This is especially important if you’re selling unique or handmade apparel.
Trademarks: You should also trademark your brand name and logo. This will prevent others from using it and will allow you to take legal action if they do.
Patents (if relevant): Chances are, you aren’t going to invent a better sewing machine or tailor’s mannequin. But if you do create something truly innovative, you should definitely patent it.
Taxes: All businesses are required to pay taxes. The amount of taxes you’ll need to pay will depend on the type and size of your business. You should speak to an accountant or tax specialist to make sure you’re paying the correct amount of taxes.
Insurance: If you have a physical location, it’s important to have insurance for your business in case something goes wrong. This could include damage to your property or liability for injuries that occur on the premises of a brick-and-mortar location.
Contracts: If you’re going to be working with other businesses or individuals, it’s important to have contracts in place. This will protect both parties and ensure that everyone knows their rights and responsibilities.
Employment law: If you’re going to be hiring staff, there are a number of employment laws that you need to be aware of. This includes things like minimum wage rates, health and safety requirements, and antidiscrimination laws.

Taking care of these legal matters will help to ensure that your business is running smoothly and legally. If you’re unsure about any of these points, it’s always best to speak to a lawyer or another professional for advice.

Accessorizing: Marketing your business

Once upon a time, marketing a small business was relatively easy. The most important thing was having a great location. From there, you’d need an ad in the phone book and maybe a TV or radio commercial.

Things have changed drastically in the last 20 years or so, and now small businesses have to contend with the internet, social media, and a whole host of other options when it comes to marketing.

Learning marketing can be like exploring the ocean. It’s vast, deep, and filled with a lot of things that may overwhelm you. And if you’re not careful, you’ll get eaten alive by marketers trying to sell you information that you can find elsewhere for free. So where do you start? Let’s take a top-down approach.

Doing the practical, hands-on work

If you’re going to be marketing yourself, it’s best to stick with what you know. If you spend most of your time posting on X or expressing yourself on Instagram, those are probably the platforms you should focus on first.

The key is to use the platform that you’re most comfortable with and that will reach your target audience.

From there, you can learn just about everything you need to know about the practice of marketing from Udemy. Udemy offers hundreds of top-tier courses for as little as $11.99 and as much as $200.

Thinking like a marketer

Thinking like a marketing professional is another matter entirely. According to comic strip protagonist Dilbert, it’s “just liquor and guessing.” But in reality, there’s much more to it than that.

Here are three of the most important aspects of marketing:

Understanding strategy vs tactics: A strategy is an entire plan, and tactics are parts of that plan. Posting daily on Instagram is a tactic. Doing press releases, networking with industry professionals, and creating trendy pop-ups in big cities are all examples of parts of a strategy. In order to be successful at marketing, you need a complete strategy.
Finding or creating your community: You’re not going to become a household name overnight. You can’t expect to compete with Levi’s, Vera Wang, or Armani — at least, not yet. What you need to do is find a tight niche and become legendary in that group.
Getting out on the long tail: This is an extension of aspect number two. If you look at a power law graph of popularity, you’ll see a high peak to the left where the most popular products are. Then there’s a “long tail” on the right where all the smaller brands live. If you advertise your shoe company using keywords like “tennis shoes,” you’ll be on the left of the graph competing with companies like Nike and Adidas. But if you advertise with a keyword like “glow-in-the-dark dinosaur flip-flops,” you’ll easily come up on page one during a Google search.

You can learn all three of these marketing concepts and many more from Seth Godin. He’s written 20 bestsellers and he publishes great advice on his. The best book to get you started is This Is Marketing.

Fabric and stitching: Getting materials and manufacturing right

This is where the actual work that’s the heart of your business comes in. You’ll need to gather or create products for sale, but that all depends on the type of business you’re trying to create.

Reselling

There are lots of resellers on social media who make a good living buying gently used clothing from thrift stores and giving them a new home. If that’s the case for your business, you have less work to do overall. But you’ll have to put in some serious hours treasure hunting.

And looking just in your own city may not be enough. You’ll have to look far and wide to find the truly rare gems that your customers crave.

The reselling route is great, and you can also look into creating a boutique that resells wholesale clothing.

There are many businesses that sell wholesale clothing for retailers and online sellers. One good example is Faire. But do your research. There are also directories of wholesalers that can help you target wholesalers that best fit your niche.

Designing and creating

If you’re starting from scratch, your focus is going to be on acquiring materials and finding manufacturers. Depending on how big you want your business to grow, this is the most complex path. That’s because, unless you’re doing all your own sewing in-house, you’ll have to set up supply chains.

And even if all your tailors are local hires, you’ll still need to rent a workspace and acquire equipment for them to use. If that’s the route you want to go, start small.

Don’t sign a two-year lease on a downtown warehouse just yet. Try to run your business out of your house with a few friends at first. That will give you the time to figure out all the moving pieces and test the waters.

If you do decide to set up a supply chain, you’ll need to figure out how to source materials and find a reliable manufacturer.

At first, you may be able to source materials locally from the garment district if you live in a big enough city, like Los Angeles or New York. Eventually, you may outgrow what you can source locally. But if you establish a relationship with a local outlet, they could help you establish relationships with larger suppliers.

From there, you’ll need to find a manufacturer who can take your designs and patterns and bring them to life. Manufacturers may have access to their own materials suppliers. If they can provide fabrics you’re happy with, you may be able to skip hunting them down yourself and getting them shipped.

The manufacturer you work with should have at least the following traits:

Reliability: You need a manufacturer you can count on to meet your deadlines consistently.
Communication skills: There will be a lot of back-and-forth as you work to get your product just right. You need a manufacturer who’s responsive to your requests and open to feedback.
Excellent turnaround time: Time is money. The faster your manufacturer can turn around a sample, the better.
Quality control: This is nonnegotiable. You need to be able to trust that your manufacturer will produce a high-quality product each and every time.
Competitive pricing: Manufacturing is only one of your business expenses. As with everything, you need to keep costs down.
Ability to scale production up or down as needed: As your business grows, you’ll need a manufacturer who can handle increased demand. But you also don’t want to overcommit and pay for capacity that you don’t need.
Flexibility to work with a wide range of designs and patterns: Your business stands out by being creative and unique. You don’t want your manufacturer’s capabilities to limit you.

Adding buttons everywhere: Using the right software

As mentioned at the very beginning of this article, now is a great time to start a clothing business. That’s because it’s easier than ever, thanks to the internet.

The right software can help you manage your business. Here are a few of the best tools for a growing business to rely on:

1. Google, Gmail, and Meet

Google’s cloud-based suite of tools will let you and your team communicate and work together in real time. And when your business grows, Google offers Workspace, which is designed for companies of every size, from tiny mom-and-pops to massive enterprises.

2. Jotform

Jotform is the premier communication automation tool. Its versatility means that you’ll constantly find places in your business processes where it’s the perfect match.

3. ClickUp

ClickUp is probably the most versatile productivity tool currently available. If all you need is a few checklists, it’s no problem. If you want a huge collection of custom tools designed to manage every aspect of your business, it’s good at that too. The one drawback is that it’s kind of a lot to learn if you’re not very tech savvy. But it’s worth the time investment to pick it up.

Now that you’ve been introduced to some helpful software, let’s explore how you can use it in all of your business processes.

Wearing so many hats: Handling business processes

If it’s just you and one other person working out of a garage, the complexities of running a full business may be far from your mind. But it’s never too early to start thinking in terms of how you can scale up and eventually run a larger business.

As you start building your business, you’ll probably find yourself wearing a lot of hats. That’s a good thing. It will give you the opportunity to learn the different roles of your business. From there, you can streamline each one and make training new hires easier.

by Michael Gerber is an excellent book that will teach you how to work on your business, not just in your business. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss is another outstanding book that will teach you how to automate and outsource your business.

Here are some common processes and tricks for managing them:

Accounting: This involves bookkeeping, payroll, and taxes. QuickBooks is the most popular choice for small businesses and the self-employed.
Human resources: This department handles hiring, firing, managing benefits, and more. You can do most of your HR needs with Jotform. You can use it to receive resumes, fill out legal documents, manage employee lists and information, and much more.
Customer service: Keeping your customers happy is probably the most important part of your business. This is another area where Jotform is your friend. You can create forms to collect service requests, return requests, product feedback, and more.
Research and development: You’ll need to constantly innovate to keep your customers excited about your brand. You can track all of your research using Google Docs, which is great for collaborative work.
Marketing: We’ve already covered this in detail. Google Docs can help you manage your campaigns. Jotform hasyou can use to collect email addresses, do market research, and much more. Buffer can help streamline your social media marketing by automating posts. And Mailchimp will help you launch professional email campaigns without them being flagged as spam.
Quality assurance: It’s vitally important to make sure your end product meets the highest standards possible. Jotform can help you streamline the inspection process, and Jotform Workflows can automate your policies and procedures for decision-making.
Shipping and receiving: You don’t need a huge warehouse to store all of your products these days. There are many fulfillment services available. They will store your product, pack it, and ship it. They’ll also handle returns and a certain amount of customer service. Amazon is one reliable provider of fulfillment.
Manufacturing: You’ll need a lot of records and documents to manage your manufacturing. Google Drive should provide everything you need.

Zipping it all up: Taking the next steps

There’s a lot involved in starting a business, but the most important thing is to start. Don’t overthink it. Don’t overplan it. Don’t spend too much on it. Don’t psych yourself out. Just roll up your sleeves and get to work.

As mentioned earlier, there’s lots of planning to do up front. That’s true. But it’s mostly to get the ideas out of your head and somewhere safe. Once you’ve done that, just get back to work.

The information in this article is a lot to process. You can safely bookmark it and keep it in the back of your mind. When you need more information, come back here to figure out your next steps.

Whatever success looks like for you, here’s hoping you will achieve it. And here’s to you for taking the first steps!

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