Exclusive designs for customers
Nowadays, people look for our objects to have our personal mark, a difference that marks them and indicates originality and authenticity. This is why personalized garments are one of the most used elements. If you are an ingenious and creative entrepreneur, a custom clothing store may be the business you are looking for.
A great list of businesses with a local store look at it all here
You can propose exclusive designs for customers, as well as create images and sell garments with a customization made by them. How to start with the business? Well, to do so, you will need to take into account the following points.
How does this business work?
With this type of business you can either create the custom garments to sell on websites or create the store and sell them not only on the web but also in your own physical establishment. Basically what you will do is create designs to store in your portfolio of shapes to customize clothes, either with names, animated series, numbers, phrases, images, photographs, etc., and you will store them to offer them to customers, in addition to those they design.
Keep in mind that many will already go with the idea of the customization they want, so you can take it, advise them and create an excellent nice and original design.
Who do you offer the service to?
The preferences of the public may present variations, as some people will prefer this type of clothing for a concert or cultural event, for their sports, casual wear, etc. Although you can diversify the audience you are targeting, most customers would be young people.
Where are you going to be located?
This also depends on whether you are going to set up in a physical establishment for there, directly put the clothes on sale or attend to customers. If you only want a workshop and you are going to sell through social networks and websites, which is also an alternative to reduce costs, you can locate in an area of your home with your implements or, if you want to serve customers directly, rent or purchase a local workshop space and care for those interested.
What equipment do you need?
To set up this type of business, you will also need to acquire items such as Sewing elements and material to create the customizations, machines and equipment necessary for the creations in the garments, other implements such as: a display stand, an area where you can hang personalized observation clothes, a waiting area, a cash register, office items, a telephone, possibly a computer, etc.
How many staff do you need?
When we are starting our business, we recommend reducing expenses and avoiding overloading it, so it is better to look for few personnel at the beginning, and evaluate with the growth of the business and the demand, the adequate personnel for the attention. However, it will be necessary to have several people in this type of business, for example, you will need someone to take care of the cleaning area, sales and customer service, a manager in social networks and web, who is dedicated to creating designs, someone for business administration, etc.
As much as we want to do everything on our own, we will need the help of someone else to accomplish tasks that we cannot take care of. You can talk to friends and family to help you initially and the cost will not be so high.
What knowledge do I need as an entrepreneur in the area?
Regardless of whether you are going to focus on customer care and service or creating the designs, you need to have knowledge in all areas as a business owner, from administration to the process of creating the custom garments, as you will need to be supervising each area.
If you don’t have knowledge of any of these areas, I recommend that you take advantage of the free resources that you can find on the internet, such as courses, ebooks, tutorials, etc., and in this way, little by little, you will be forming your profile as an experienced entrepreneur.
How much are you going to charge?
If you don’t know about this business, you may be wondering how much to charge for design and clothing. We set a price according to the design work, whether it is created or chosen and brought by the client, as well as if it is in color and size. Also take into account the level of difficulty to put it on, the material of the garment chosen and if it is the customer who brings the garment or buys a T-shirt on the premises.
How do I start promoting my business?
Once everything is ready, it is time to start promoting the business through digital and traditional means by which the target audience knows what we are doing for them. Usually the interested parties make a virtual search to find the establishments, so the
the key is to promote them mainly through social networks and websites. On the side of traditional advertising, you can hand out eye-catching flyers, give out business cards at cultural events, fairs, etc., as well as billboards and the great ‘word of mouth’, which is used to get positive references from the public.
How much capital do you need?
In order to establish a total budget you need to start your business, it is necessary to formulate a business plan. This is a document in which we set out step by step what we have seen before: personnel, material, machines, premises, training, etc., so that by adding up costs we can establish the necessary investment capital. Remember that throughout the process any eventuality may arise, so store a percentage to solve any mishap or costs that appear.
Potential drawbacks
In the process, if you want to acquire specialized machines for the stamping processes, you may find yourself with very high prices for the equipment and material. We are talking about a business where you may have to make a considerable investment, considering the value and the search for specialized machines, once you have orders for more elaborate and larger designs.
Final advice
Since it is a business that is very well known nowadays, the key is to find a way to differentiate yourself. One way to do this is to open your field to customers who are not close to you through a website where they can choose the design they want, even create it and order it. Basically an online store but with the mode of customization for the product. What do you think? I’m sure it’s worth trying.