We've seen a lot over the last 14 years in the apparel game. From starting, growing, and selling our own internal brands, to helping our clients grow their businesses, we've seen just about every problem that could possibly come up for an apparel company, and ways to solve them.
Apparel brands have different problems at different points in their growth trajectory. Some of the most common problems we've seen are partnership issues, not knowing standard costs/margins, unfocused brand targeting, and many other targets, which we've organized below by whether they're a new company, growing fast, or an established brand. Please check them out and see where you recognize yourself, and your current problems, on that scale.
COMMON STICKING POINTS AT EVERY STAGE
New Brands
($0-250K ANNUAL REVENUE)
- Benefits of LLC vs. S Corp
- Brand name selection, how to choose it, how important it is
- What margins to expect and how to price your product in your target marketplace
- When to trademark, what to trademark, and how to do it effectively
- Best platforms to buy domain name, set up website, and run fulfillment
- Which blanks sell best in which markets
- Colors and inks that fit best with your market
- What is the standard sizing ratio for different markets
- How to forecast your ordering schedule
- How to bootstrap minimum investments into high returns
- How to grow your Instagram following and convert it to brand growth and sales
Growing Brands
($250K-1M ANNUAL REVENUE)
- What you need to scale from spare room, to garage, to warehouse
- How to deal with upset customers and turn them into raving fans
- Streamlining your fulfillment operation
- When to hire someone --- how to find them, hire them, and keep them
- When to fire someone
- How to consolidate products to save on digital and physical space
- How to know when it's time to quit your day job and go all in (burn the boats or not?)
- What standard profit margins are for different products and what to shoot for
- How to run a sales forecast to maximize return on inventory investment
Advanced Brands
($1M+ ANNUAL REVENUE)
- When enough is enough, time to sell or not
- How to deal with burnout
- What key things make the brand an attractive package for a buyer
- What are the lifetime options for the brand
- What are the lifetime options for YOU, after the brand
- Growing the team --- the good, the bad, and the ugly
- Work/life balance, does it exist?
- Spouses, pros and cons to getting them involved in the company
- Managing your relationship with your significant other, in or out of the business
- Who are YOU, outside of your brand --- are you chasing REAL happiness?
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