Many moms worldwide nowadays decide to embark on a clothing business while at the same time raising a family. It is by no doubt a challenging thing to do, but many women do it successfully all over the world. Running your own business requires a lot of creativity, excellent time management skills, multitasking, and prioritizing – making it a natural fit with motherhood. Women have the upper hand as they learn all these essential skills for entrepreneurship simply by being a mother. Of course, running a business successfully encompasses many other things as well. If you’re interested in starting your own business but don’t know where to start, take a look at how to start your own business as a working mom.
Think about a brand you’d like to develop
If you’re thinking about starting your own business, you probably already have at least some idea about the brand you’d like to start. Many women get inspiration from their own clothing needs, or their friends’ and families’ needs as well as from inspirational stories of mompreneurs all over the world. Whatever the spark is, you can use it to create your own fashion brand. As your brand is the heart of your company, you should give it careful consideration. Clothing is essential because we use it to build our own identity – clothes show who we are. Many people nowadays want to look authentic and thus, search for such clothes. Answering all kinds of questions related to your brand will help you in defining it. They are the core of your company, which you will build on later. You should connect your company name, logo, and web design to your brand. The key to success in the clothing industry is reflected in a clear brand identity that targets the right customers, stays authentic and that communicates the message clearly. Fashion is a fast-moving industry and you might have many ideas, but it’s important to stay focused on one or a couple of things.
Find reliable suppliers
Now that you know what your brand is about, you should consider the products. You can take two paths here: you can create your own line of clothes from scratch or you can buy wholesale ready products and sell them either online or in your brick-and-mortar store. Starting your clothesline from scratch is more demanding and requires many additional features and more time. That’s why many women decide to start with buying and selling ready products and when they become good at this and gain some experience, then they start their own clothing line, which is perfectly fine. When searching for wholesale suppliers, it’s important to find reliable ones. Search online and ask around, this is the best way to do it. Collaborate with suppliers who are willing to send you some samples and who offer some discount when buying in bulks. Also, find those that display their clothes genuinely, in the way they really are. One such wholesale company is Style State, which offers a variety of dresses for all kinds of occasions.
Make a plan
There is no successful business without a proper plan. You need a plan for everything. This includes planning where to sell your clothes – is it going to be online, in a brick-and-mortar store, or perhaps in local boutiques. Think about the pros and cons of each before making a final decision. When considering the plan, you should consider an overall, annual as well as a daily or weekly plan. Good planning and tactics will get you to your aim. Have in mind that selling online is much easier and cheaper as you don’t have costs of monthly rent, mortgage, or property taxes to pay, and no fixtures to buy. Also, it’s relatively easy to make an e-commerce website these days, without much technical knowledge.
Build a website
Now we come to the crucial point – online presence. Nowadays it feels as if a company doesn’t exist if it doesn’t have a website. So, it is an essential aspect of starting a clothing business. Developing a user-friendly website will help you in reaching customers in this highly competitive business world. It’s an inevitable component of your branding and marketing strategy. Your website should be an embodiment of your brand – it should be clear who you are and what your brand is. Your website should also be the voice of your company. Consider adding some interesting features such as a lookbook.
Invest in marketing
Creating a plausible marketing plan is key. Hiring professionals will mean making both a short and long-term marketing plan and developing certain strategies in order to reach customers. Building relationships with customers is important as it helps in spreading the word about your business. Marketing doesn’t have to be only paid, there are also some free ways of advertising – you should definitely use both. Paid advertising includes online ads, event sponsorships, and other methods, while free marketing incorporates embracing social media, starting a blog and having press releases.
Be persistent and innovative
In the fashion industry, there’s no advancing if you’re not persistent, innovative, and creative as it is one of the fastest-moving industries in the world, with trends that change frequently. So in order to be successful, you should always think ahead and be up-to-date with new fashion trends in the world. For example, if you are reselling clothing on Poshmark, you can sell a mystery clothing bundle by weight. Using an Ohaus balance can help you determine how many pieces you can fit into a 5lb box to ship without going over.
Know the market
Knowing the market is also crucial, as it helps you narrow down the possibilities. There’s no point in starting a certain brand if no one is going to buy it – remember that. You should do your research about the market and customer needs before deciding on what to sell. In that way, you’ll avoid investment that’s gone down the drain.
Running a prosperous business and being a dedicated mom at the same time requires a lot of will, strength, motivation, determination, and sacrifice. This means working many times after you put the children to sleep and before they get up. However, you should remember that it’s also important to leave some time for yourself as that will help you in maintaining your motivation and running both your family and business successfully.
Author Bio
Maggie Holmes is a passionate blog writer who is extremely keen on writing about fashion, lifestyle, pets, and technology. Her exclusive hobby is surfing the net to find amazing articles that can inspire her with some fresh ideas for article writing. She loathes being a common person who wastes her time. Follow her on Twitter.