The document provides 10 tips for fashion startups, focusing on defining the brand identity, finding customers, developing products with customer feedback, creating a business plan and financial model, setting targets, and maintaining focus. It emphasizes understanding the target customer, building a brand proposition, excellent product development informed by customers, developing a viable business model and financial plan, and setting metrics and priorities to achieve business goals. Additionally, it stresses the importance of securing support and avoiding distractions in running a fashion startup business.

1. 10 TIPS FOR FASHION STARTUPS
Jedannah Vieira, DressShift.com

2. 1. KNOW YOUR RAISON D’ÊTRE
Take some time to be really clear about your raison d’être
(reason for being) in the fashion business.
➤ What is your point of view?
➤ What is your design aesthetic?
➤ What is aspirational about it?
➤ What is empowering about it?
Your design philosophy and choices will be fundamental to your
business and brand messaging so it’s important to make sure
you’re motivated, inspired and compelled by it over time and
that others are too.

3. 2. BUILD A CLEAR BRAND PROPOSITION
Having a clear brand proposition is paramount to success and being
able to communicate it effectively and in a simple manner to
customers, buyers, and investors will define your next steps. Aim to
be as unique and as specific as possible with your proposition.
➤ What are the brand values that underpin your brand?
➤ Based on your proposition, are there others (competitors) aiming
for similar values? What makes yours unique? definitive?
desirable?
➤ When you socialize your idea to others, what themes or values do
they associate with your brand?
➤ How can you incorporate brand values into your business model,
design aesthetic and other strategic decisions over time?

4. 3. FIND YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND TALK TO THEM
Some fashion designers are inspired to develop products or ideas first and fail to spend
enough time finding their customers. Don’t do that. Ensure that your target customer is
involved early on and seek their feedback in your product development process.
➤ Do not assume that all good products will find customers. Betabrand has built a
business on only producing items pre-funded by customers.
➤ Bringing target customers into the product development cycle increases your chances
of building a product that will sell. They can be your reality check
➤ Identify where and how they currently shop (your competitors?). Investigate ‘a day in
the life of my target customer’ to see what else you understand about them and how
this impacts your product, distribution and business strategy
➤ Customer surveys, focus groups and socializing of your product is an essential part of
the inventor’s process. Now, get out of the building and do it!
➤ How many customers is enough before launch? Some brands spend a year or more
drumming up sufficient customer interest and filling their customer list before they
move into launch or production. Look at Everlane; ThesisCouture as examples

5. 4. FOCUS ON EXCELLENT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
You’ll notice that finding your customer comes before product development. And
that is generally the best approach because you’re going to market to find a
customer problem worth solving, and then you’re building a product that
addresses needs. It can prove more difficult to start with a product and then find
customers to pay for it. The fashion market is flooded with products that fail
because there was no paying customer identified prior to launch. Once you’ve got
a customer problem to solve, design the brand/product/collection for it.
➤ Build a sample product or collection as cost-effectively as possible and socialize
with your target customer. Then make revisions as necessary based on their
feedback. Don’t rush this phase. It’s important to get the product right before
you spend more time and money to formalize your business
➤ Great businesses are built on great products with customers in mind
➤ As you mature in your business, you’ll need to consider that ’product’ is
defined by the actual physical item, as well as everything else the customer
interacts with from your brand, so be consistent across it all

6. 5. REALLY OWN YOUR BUSINESS PLAN
➤ You are both a fashion designer and a business.
➤ While you can hire a trusted advisor to help you think
critically and build your business plan, the plan itself is yours
to own and decide upon. Make sure you take the time to
understand the plan and the financials.
➤ Investors and other stakeholders will ask questions about
your plan, and you must demonstrate your knowledge of your
business so that they’ll feel confident giving you money or
placing orders that will be delivered as indicated.
➤ If you have a business partner, ensure that you’re both
helping each other to understand the product and business.

7. 6. THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
Marketing & Sales: once you’ve nailed down your product and found customers willing to
buy it, you need to think about pricing and promotional strategies. Don’t be afraid to let
your customer inform your pricing decisions. It adds another data point to how you price.
Production & Supply Chain: are you producing the product yourself? based on the price
customers are willing to pay, what are the reliable options you have for outsourcing
production and supply chain? what are the implications on your brand, your pricing and
your target customer? do you have backup options should circumstances change over
time? how comfortable and confident are you in the production and supply chain you
choose? how can you gain the right level of control over this critical portion of your
business? Another step to take slowly: supplier relationships are fundamental.
Distribution: focus on your customer here again - how do they shop? when and where?
what are your options for distribution and how much does each cost you in margin? based
on that, you can make your distribution decisions and decide on your marketing strategy
Note: This is a meaty section and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Business registration;
structure; contracts and trademarks are also not covered here. That deserves another
separate, but important discussion.

8. 7. FIND THE RIGHT FINANCIAL PLAN
Here, you have some traditional and non-traditional options. And I’ll only skim the surface:
If you’ve saved money to finance the business, obtained a loan, windfall, or money from an
investor, then your focus is to spend in a way that prioritizes sales. Focus on building a viable
product suitable for your target customers and a distribution channel for them to make
purchases. You may find that you can only fund one product or a few products as part of your
initial launch, which is probably a safer bet than going to market with a full collection. Avoid
draining money with PR & marketing. Tap into your network for reduced fees and bartering.
More and more startups are opting to bootstrap their businesses; implement ‘just-in-time’
production, and/or take pre-orders for products before manufacturing as a low-risk way to test
the market’s desire to buy and avoid money tied up or lost due to unsold inventory. This usually
requires small-batch production, a small collection of products (many launch with just one
product) and can grow as the market demand and business accommodates.
The first few years in your financial plan don’t need to be flashy, leveraged and flush with cash.
Be realistic with your sales plans. Runway shows and splashy PR events are rarely the best
strategy upfront. You’re testing the market in the first few years. If you succeed past the first 5
years and have some cash to show for it, you can self-fund the next stage. And at that point,
whether your self-funding or seeking investors, you’ll be better informed to do what’s best based
on what you’ve learned.

9. 8. SET YOUR TARGETS, THEN BUILD YOUR TO-DO LIST
What gets measured, get’s done.
Once you’ve got your business strategy and financial plan, set key performance
metrics to achieve your plans and measure your success. Early on, focus on
growing the size of your target customer base each month and on achieving your
monthly sales quota in your business plan.
Social media: while brand awareness/engagement is important, ability to quantify
impact on sales has not yet been achieved. Don’t overestimate; over-rely here.
After you’ve set a few key targets, write a short list of top-priority tasks and the
timelines for each. Again, notice that key metrics comes before the task list.
Stick to ‘mission-critical’ tasks that help you achieve your targets. Avoid the
temptation to procrastinate with activities that don’t deliver your targets. Stay
focussed. For example, if you’re plan requires you to sell 20 items a month,
prioritize engaging with people in your customer list to make those sales happen.

10. 9. MAINTAIN FOCUS, DON’T BE DISTRACTED BY MARKET NOISE
Apparel & fashion goods markets move at breakneck speed.
News travels in real-time; it can distract and cause doubt.
Understand this phenomenon within the industry and consider this
within your business strategy:
➤ will your idea stand the test of time? if so, for how long? and are you
okay with this timeline? have you accounted for this in your plan?
➤ try to stick to your plan and resist your urge to doubt and pivot
➤ if promising opportunities threaten to alter your original plan, take
some time to evaluate their strategic potential (financial and
otherwise) within your broader plan. What implications do the
changes have on other important aspects?

11. 10. GET A SUPPORT SYSTEM
Your business will require boundless energy from you.
Each phase is will challenge your wits and positivity.
➤ Make a list of people who can support you mentally and emotionally
and talk to them about the role they will play in your life as you take
on this adventure
➤ Find a mentor, a trusted advisor, who can offer a sounding board for
you and assist you think decisions through
➤ Join an organization that offers support for small business startups
(incubators or accelerators ideally specific to fashion) so you can tap
their network and resources
➤ No one said the journey would guarantee success or be easy. Be patient
with yourself; take time to care for yourself and enjoy the journey.

12. “
It was difficult for me to
grasp this idea of
having to be a designer
and a business man.
-Tommy Hilfiger
(Yes, you can do it too)

13. FASHION BUSINESS CONSULTING
For more tips and resources, visit DressShift.com/resources