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Independent clothing and accessories designers are thriving in the modern age. There is a huge market of consumers who want to support small businesses. Others just like affordable fashion and the chance to break free from the uniformed looks of high street trends. Either way, if you love making garments and showcasing your creativity, there has never been a better time to start your SME.
Running it from home allows you to keep the venue as a side hustle until large revenue rolls in. However, you will still need a dedicated strategy to achieve success. Here’s all you need to know.
Have a dedicated workspace
When starting a home-based business of any kind, a dedicated workspace is useful. When designing clothes, though, it becomes even more significant as you will have a lot of materials to work with. Keeping your work life separate from leisure activities will be key. Portable tools like a Geo Knight heat press are vital too. Keeping items compact where possible is advised.
The dedicated workspace should also encourage you to stay creative and inspired. Canvas wall art depicting some of your favorite items can be very useful. Crucially, you must ensure that all materials, accessoires, and appliances are easily reached. If this is not the case, you will struggle to stay productive and may also experience costly accidents. Broken stock and materials is the last thing you need when starting out.
Know how to sell your products in style
The products you create will be incredible, but that counts for nothing if nobody buys them. Therefore, knowing how to reach an audience should be a priority. After building your ideal consumer profile and branding materials, you must look for ways to advertise the business. When you use the right outlets and methods to reach prospective leads, you can’t go far wrong. Crucially, though, you must focus on visual elements.
In addition to your in-house branding ideas, you should consider the use of social influencers and affiliates. When consumers can see the clothes and accessories being used, they can start to imagine themselves with the products. Finally, you must ensure that all eCommerce platforms or third-party sites offer easy transactions. Losing sales because people can’t complete a purchase would be a disaster.
Create a name that reflects your philosophy
Another tactic when starting a home-based fashion business is to make sure you choose a brand name that reflects your philosophy. You want something unique that will help you stand out from the crowd and get eyeballs on your products.
Stuck for business name ideas? Don’t worry: there are plenty of tools out there that can help you find something that fits your enterprise. Play around with a dozen names and let them stew for a while before selecting the one that works best for your particular products.
Master order fulfillment
If you want to keep customers happy, the service is as important as the product itself. In fact, poor client care and a lack of feeling valued is one of the reasons clients turn their backs on big brands. Many customers now have a demand for products to be delivered quickly. Teaming up with green courier services like GoFor can work wonders. Customers receive their goods quickly and remain eco-friendly.
As the company gets bigger, you may find that you have a need for more storage space. Using a self-storage facility that allows your couriers to collect stock without your presence will work wonders. You can also keep materials or equipment that are only used for seasonal trends in this facility too. In turn, you will save valuable space at home. Just be sure to keep hold of all receipts as they will be needed for your taxes, even as a side hustle.
