I’m Sewing Everything Myself. Can I Make Real Money?
#AskJane LIVE Fashion Business Coaching Episode
Today’s episode is a LIVE coaching session with a badass Canadian fashion designer, Stephanie of Stephanie Davis Designs. She sent me a really great question and I thought it would help everyone to cover it on the show.
Stephanie was feeling a bit worried after listening to the “6 Things New Fashion Designers Need to Know Before They Start a Business” and hearing “if you’re sewing, you’re not selling”, so she sent us a DM on Instagram.
So I invited her to do one-on-one session — an #AskJane LIVE coaching episode. Today I talk to Stephanie about…
- What her DREAM business would look like
- Determining Stephanie’s highest margin items
- Determining her best sellers in terms of dollar value (not units)
- Outsourcing more so she can spend more time on sales – plus keep her body healthy
- What 3 tweaks she’s going to make this month to start making more money
Have a listen…
You can also listen on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or on Soundcloud
Want to Work Together?
- If you want to launch a profitable clothing line, we have a program for new designers, called Launch a Line. It’s a step-by-step course that gives you the blueprint to a successful launch so you don’t make the same mistakes I did when you start. You get unlimited access to the course for 3 full years plus a great community of like-minded entrepreneurs.
- If you’re currently selling online and want more consistent traffic and sales, you can join The Content Club. You’ll get expert training, LIVE marketing Hotseat reviews, Study Hall, a private Facebook community, and accountability to grow your online business.
Quotes from the podcast:
- “I was listening to an episode of your podcast as I was ironing and doing quality control on some things that I had sent out to a seamstress because I do really much of the sewing myself. And I’m really, I’m trying to give some of that away, but it’s really hard for me because I’m a really good seamstress. You’re saying that for most people, it’s probably not a great plan to be doing the production yourself in terms of making money.
- “And so I’m, I’m ironing and I’m looking at things and I’m nitpicking the little aspects that are not quite, uh, what I would do in my extreme perfectionism. I’m listening to you saying…not making money. I had to immediately leave you a voicemail. Like what the hell was it? How dare you.”
- I would love to a see myself making, like actual money. I don’t need to make piles and piles of money, but a real salary, because the problem is with the way that things are for me at this point is, you know, there are some weeks where you get piles of orders and you’re like, right on, I’m doing great. This is amazing. But then the next week, you know, crickets, you got nothing coming in. And then another week later, like you’ve got some stuff happening. And so it’s sort of, it’s, it’s sort of, there’s an ebb and flow and it’s not constant.
Mentioned in the podcast:
- Stephanie’s company Stephanie Davis Designs
- “6 Things New Clothing Designers Need to Know Before They Start a Business”
- The Epic Fails That Almost Put Me Out of Business
- Stephanie’s company Stephanie Davis Designs
Let me know if you want to tell me your story and be on the podcast!
Remember…Perfect is good, but DONE is better!
Jane
More about Stephanie’s brand:
Choose your own Fashion Adventure with Stephanie Davis Designs
If you’re anything like me, finding clothing right off the rack just doesn’t cut it. I’m the girl that wants those pants in that fabric. I want this top with short sleeves, and that top with long sleeves. And for the love of god, I want a skirt that fits my butt without being all baggy at the waist! Sound familiar? Well, it can be done. My Signature Collection is 100% made to order, that means YOU pick the fabric and the customizations to make it your very own. No more awkward sleeve lengths, no more gaping waistbands, no more wishing those purple pants were black, or those black pants were purple. Best of all, no extra charges for the common adjustments that transform a regular garment into your favourite go-to!
Stephanie Davis Designs | Fun Fashion that FITS
4 Responses
Thank you for this podcast. I saw the headline and immediately thought THAT’S ME! Then when I heard Ms. Davis talk about her business, I was like, do I have a business doppleganger in Canada? Much of what she talked about was so similar.
As the interview/coaching went on, I answered the questions and stumbled in areas like Stephanie did. Or couldn’t answer at all. Although I am not custom creating everything, I create similar to a Fiber Artist. Each piece are simple shapes, one of a kind fabrications……but definitely without the payout….Oh if I could get $11,000 per jacket (or even 1/2 that), $9000 for a skirt….well then let me book passage, redecorate, etc etc. However these are not the consumers I have access to.
A Handmade Clothing Businesses model is very different than a Handmade Jewelry/furniture/pottery, consumers understand the level of work/materials that goes into creating those items, but clothing that’s a unique customer and there aren’t that many of them…..but they do exist and my
business has to function in this world of Fast Fashion.
I am one of those one of a kind businesses and I may not be ready to push the ????, for the coaching, but I will certainly save this recording to return to and answer those difficult questions.
Thank you
Hi Cassandra!
Thank you so much for your honest comment. Have you considered the idea of doing limited addition pieces rather than OOAK? So much work goes into creating a piece, wouldn’t it be fabulous if you could create that piece over and over and sell it? Even if there were just 50 units created and the pieces could be marked 1/50, 2/50…
Then perhaps you could justify the time and energy that comes into designing and making that first piece, photographing it, and being able to sell more units.
There are a lot of different ways to make a business profitable, and this is just one of them. You got this!
Jane
Hello to my doppelgänger! ???? Sewists for the win? Lol The struggle is real. This coaching session was really helpful. I’ve already implemented some of the things Jane talked about!
Woohoooo! Go Stephanie.