For non-conformists who want to create something big, the idea of launching a private label clothing brand is quite thrilling. However, given the business venture still isn’t in the mainstream, the path to success here looks quite uncertain, blurred and confusing. And this, alone, puts off many!
Do you want to start your own fashion or fitness clothing line?
It’s a great idea with plenty of opportunities and monetary rewards in line for you. All you’ve got to do is get things right in the initial stages. The rest, over the course, once the business is well-established, will follow suit.
Thankfully, getting your beginning correct is simple—not necessarily easy but simple.
Here are 22 steps to launch and run your private label fitness apparel business in as less as 60 days:
(For more clarity and better understanding, we have divided the entire beginning into 4 stages)
What you want to do
The kind of wears you want to offer
One of the first things you must decide is what kind of wears do you want to sell under your label. Common sense says you must keep as many clothing types and varieties as possible in your warehouse so as to maximize the chances of sales.
However, when starting, to keep the confusions and problems at the minimal, it’s always the best idea to go slowly and offer limited types of clothing. So, don’t go overboard. Select few clothing types, design them and then sell them under your brand.
If current trends be undertaken, women and men’s activewear is a great choice. With people more health conscious than ever, the demand for gym and running clothes is growing at a very fast pace.
Who will you target
How would your activewear wholesale collection look largely depend on who you are trying to target. So, answer who will be your target audience. Don’t be vague go “everyone” or “all the women”. Be as specific as possible.
The more segregated your audience is (at least for the starters), the better you would understand them. And the better you understand them, you would be able to meet their distinct demands much efficiently.
Mechanize how to deal with competition
You would likely have a handful of competitors in your niche. Before investing anything in your venture, you will have to be sure that this competition doesn’t cut back on your profit margin. For that to happen, you must first mechanize a strategy to effectively deal with them.
Know how you’re going to tackle their strategies. Because know it for sure that they would look to limit you once you catch their attention.
Getting Funds Ready
Much like every business, you’re going to require a lot of capital to successfully launch your private label clothing business. The grander your plans are, the more funds you would require.
So, understand every aspect of your funding—how much money you would require, where will you get this money from, where would you be investing your capital. Answer such questions.
Arranging For a Good Space
The next step is the most obvious one. For your store and warehouse, you require space. So, arrange for a nice place where you would stock your wholesale and set your boutique. Make sure the location of your store is strategic and convenient for your prospects.
Also, when selecting the space, be perceptive of your expansion plan. You wouldn’t want the need to change the store and warehouse after one or two-year once more customers start pouring in and you start selling more varieties.
Slowing Down
It’s time to slow down. Although usually undermined, it’s an important part of starting a new business. Put a brake on your speed, think what you have done till now, and if you have committed some mistakes, fix them before moving forward.
Market Research
Is there any market demand?
Are people really looking for what you’re planning to sell? Is there a market demand for your upcoming products? These are very critical questions. You don’t want to sell a product who people don’t want.
So, do some light research and understand the market demand for the varieties of fitness wears (or fashion clothes) you’re planning to introduce.
Competitive Analysis
Look at your competitors. They could either be your business killer or a rich source to learn from. Which one, you will have to decide that. Identify few of the successful players in your niche and then understand what they are doing, how they started, what was their growth strategy.
Remember, you’re about to embark on the journey where they have already walked on. So, you can learn a great deal from them. So, at this stage of the process, find out some of your competitors, use online tools and do a thorough competitive analysis.
Identify the Target Audience
You know who you are going to target. But do you know where you would find them? They could be anywhere. So, now, it’s significant that you identify where would you find your prospects once you start selling.
What section of your city would be interested in purchasing from you, what social media platforms do your target audience uses. These are factors you should consider here to be fully ready to sell big once you actually launch your clothing line.
Taking to the Potential Buyers
What better way to learn about your prospective buyers than directly talking to them. Through online channels, you can easily connect to them. Most of them wouldn’t mind answering few of your basic questions, like what kind of wears they like and what budget they allot for their apparels. It’s like a small survey—only much more personalized and intimate.
Exploring Pricing Trends
Let’s not tip-toe around it. You’re launching this business to make money. Meaning, right from the get-go, you must have a clear idea in your head about how much money you want to make, how much profit you will make every month and so forth. To answer such questions, you’re going to have to analyze the current price trends in your niche. At what price your competitors are selling clothing to customers, how much profits are they making, do their business have sustainability factor in profit-making.
Also, for your different consumer segments, and different goals and seasons, you must have flexible pricing strategy. For example, during summer, the demand for activewear suddenly peaks. In this season, offering your personalized collection at higher price could bring you more revenue without cutting back on your sales, because the demand is high.
Finding sustainable model
You don’t want your business to be a one-hit wonder, or go from boom to bust in no time. You want your clothing brand to survive – and survive grandly – in the long run. For this, you must find a business model that has sustainability factor to it.
You want an evolving strategy that stands the test of time, survives competitions and gets better by every change in the trends.
Finding the right partner
Re-thinking your needs
Think over your needs, requirements, and goals. What kind of wears you would be selling under your brand, who will you be targeting and what kind of profit you want to make. Go through these answers and then set on to find a good private label clothing manufacturer.
Pick a handful of names
Do some online research, read forums, ask other business owners and then create a short list of good manufacturers; if they specialize in something, say fitness clothing, it’s better. Remember, specialized wholesale activewear manufacturer is a better choice than the general one.
These are your possible partners for you. Once with the name, do a thorough research on each one of them. And if possible, talk to them directly by call or email.
Understand what kind of people you would be working with, what kind of collection do these manufacturers have, whether or not they fit on your exact requirement and goals, do they have the infrastructure to deliver you on large orders and how do they price their wholesale.
Enquire about their customization option
This is an important part. For example, the wholesale activewear manufacturer you’re dealing with must offer inclusive and super-flexible customization option. You must not only get to choose colors and designs, but also the quality of the clothing, print type and other aspects of the manufacturing process.
So, take time to inquire each of the manufacturers in the list about the kind of personalization option do they offer.
Make the final decision
Once you have thoroughly factored everything, it’s time to make the final decision. Again, take your time here. One mistake can totally jeopardize the growth of your business. The better the manufacturing partner you have, the more successful your clothing brand would be.
After deciding on the name, do a final talk with them, set a balanced agreement and get the ball rolling.Getting to work
Pick high-quality collection
Once you have the right manufacturing company onboard, browse through their portfolio and pick the desired collection. Be careful of the sizes and price here. Also, don’t order in large bulk. You don’t want to stack a lot of unsold wears in your warehouse.
Personalize your order
Once you have selected your clothing type, now is the time to personalize it. Here, again, it’s important to go back to the basic of what your audience wants. What varieties are they looking for, what colors would they like the most, what prints do they want to buy. Know such answers and then personalize your fashion and fitness wholesale accordingly. After everything is done and finalized, place your bulk order.
Register your company
Let your manufacturer work on your order. On your side, register your brand/company. Depending on your country and local law, the registration process can take anywhere between 2 days to a month. It is best you hire a good lawyer and let her/him do it. Also, settle other legal ends at the same time, if any.
Ready-up your warehouse + store
After the registration process is done, finalize on your warehouse and store space. Do any renovation work there, if needed. Decorate them accordingly. Make them completely ready to welcome your wholesale, and start selling instantly.
Create an online store
Hire a team of developers and ask them to design you a powerful online store. Ensure the website runs smooth, fast and is beautiful. At the same time, hire few copywriters and ask them to write required content for the web pages.
Start marketing
Now comes the biggest part— marketing your products and brand. This is an on-going task that will continue till the existence of your business. Also, take up search engine optimization, social media marketing, and email list building even before the official launch of your branded clothes.
Continue with your promotional efforts until your ordered wholesale or private label fitness apparel arrives. When you get the bulk delivery, set the final launch date for your business. Make all the preliminary arrangements, as and how needed.
At the time of final launch date, invest more in marketing. And once you start selling, continue making changes to your business and improving things. Good luck!