This is a guest post from Boaz David from Human B Designer

When you’re a fashion startup, the “unknowns” are far greater than the “knowns”. Where do I find….? How do I…? What is the best….? These are normal questions to have and getting the right answers, answered by the right people for your business, will make the process smoother, more effective and much less expensive.

About 10 years ago I was hired by a designer, I’ll call him Mark, who had been in the Fashion Industry for a long time, working as a creative director for big brands (RL, Nautica, etc.). He contacted me to help him as he was starting his own line. He had a very clear vision as to what the product should look like and the concept of his brand. Since he had done that successfully for these other brands for nearly 20 years, he was great at it.

But this was all new to him

When it came to starting his own business there were many aspects that he wasn’t familiar with. While working at these bigger brands, things such as sourcing, costing, developing, producing and selling the product where not an issue — or at least not issues that he had to deal with. This time he was starting as a small business with a limited budget which is a huge difference. And all of the above tasks would be his responsibility so he was faced with challenges he wasn’t ready for.

Yes, he had industry professionals who worked with him in these companies and were willing to help and advise him, but their experience was working for bigger brands as well. Therefore, just like Mark, the challenges they faced in their work were very different than what a small start-up businesses faces. For example, meeting minimums for buying fabrics/trims, getting the attention of buyers, or negotiating good prices for production are some aspects they had zero experience with. And these areas can be deadly for a start-up! Mark’s contacts were used to having vendors chasing them for business, not the other way around.

First season sales were amazing

By the time I came on board, he already had about $200,000 in sales for his first season (which is a fantastic number for a start-up) and was already getting orders for his second season. Sounds good so far, right? But when I took a quick glance at his wholesale prices, I froze! His cost sheets were done by his friend, a  production manager in one of these big brands, therefore needless to say that the cost was based on prices and quantities that a huge company would produce, which was far from the reality of his small business. His wholesale prices should have been about 50% higher in order for him to make a profit!

Big, big, problem

To make a long story short, that season we worked our butts off around the clock, doing as many things as we could ourselves, pulling favors from anyone we knew or could think of….. and all in order to just try to break even. Can you imagine having $200K in sales and struggling to keep the business??? It was a nightmare.

As I mentioned, by the time I joined Mark he was already selling his 2^nd season and we couldn’t just raise the prices that much at that point. After that 1st season he was exhausted mentally and physically, financially unstable, and was ready to quit and give up his dream. Luckily, he was able to find a financial backer and we ended up changing the product offerings which allowed us to change his price point to where it needed to be…and fast forward 10 years, nowadays he has a very successful brand!

His main mistake

Looking back at it, his main mistake was that he got advice from the wrong people. They were all experienced professionals, doing their best with great intention to help him. The problem was that they had experience in the wrong areas. Since they never started their own business, or worked for a start-up before, their set of skills was not what he needed.

I started my women’s brand after working for start-up fashion brands for over 7 years. Being there and seeing what it takes prepared me to start my own line. I didn’t have all the answers right away but my previous experience allowed me to find these answers and avoid crucial mistakes, just like the ones Mark had, that could have put an end to my business.

What about you?

So if you are looking to start your fashion brand, make sure you are getting advice and learning from those who’ve done it before. Small business is a different animal than an established one, the challenges are different and facing them with limited resources requires a different set of skills and experience.

Join us at Mood Fabrics NYC

This is why I started consulting with emerging designers. I wanted to channel my start-up experience and knowledge to help designers and entrepreneurs achieve their business goals.  If you are ready to take the next steps we designed a full day workshop geared specifically for fashion start-ups with three industry experts who will walk you through everything you’ll need to know before you start. Our next workshop is Saturday November 16, 9:30-4pm at  Mood Fabric store in NYC. Your investment is $349 and includes complimentary light breakfast as well as lunch, a full package of industry forms ($75 value) and other industry discounts. Space is limited. For more info and to register visit www.startafashionbrand.com

Hope to see you there! -Boaz

About the author… 
Boaz David is the founder of Human B Designer, a New York firm that provides consulting to emerging designers. Boaz’ specialty is working with start-ups to help them find patternmakers, sewing contractors, fabrics, and all aspects of producing your line. You can find him at www.humanb.com and boaz@humanb.com.