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Continuing from Part 1 of the Series of In-Depth Step by Step Guide to Starting a Clothing Line.

Edit: Part 3 is also available now

If your just checking in than I must inform you that you are now part of my journey of writing my online freE-book article by article until It’s finished to my liking only then will I compress it and make it available for download as a single file.

Designers-Talking and sharing ideas with other designers and fashion companies in the related field you are entering. (Juniors, maternity, children’s wear, or urban wear) Work under a design house or another fashion company in order to gain experience and information. Don’t just “work” talk/ask questions and squeeze as much information out of each person you come in contact with, plus earn/save a little start up capital at the same time from your salary. This is the time in developing your business where you should put to work some of the tips in the How to sell yourself not just your product article. Making a great first impression amongst your colleagues is vital in the future success of your clothing line, besides you never know who you might need!

Books and Online Resources-Make use of fashion industry related books. There are many books out there that can help you with industry specific information you might be interested in for example: If you wanted information on wholesale fabrics than you might want to read The Small Design Company’s Guide to Wholesale Fabrics and Trims. One of my favorite reads so far is The Fashion Designers Survial Guide: An Insiders Look at Starting and Running Your Own Fashion Business. If you can get access to the library of a fashion college the amount of textbooks available and variety far outweighs anything you would find at a public library, but don’t just count them out. While I was in college our library had books on just about every aspect of fashion everything from screen printing to tye dying!

Besides the great text books available their are few online resources that provide valuable information on starting a fashion business, but are all stronger in different areas. Some of the below websites offer courses that I haven’t tried, but if anyone has any feedback on any of the guides or online ebooks mentioned below let us know.

Of Course Dobizo Also Known As-How To Start a Clothing Line from Scratch

Toronto Fashion Incubator, which offers memberships and paid guides for fashion entrepreneurs.

Kathleen Fasanella’s blog Fashion Incubator-Lessons from the sustainable factory floor.

Starting a clothing line, which is a website that offers paid tutorials on fashion design and design software. I know they purchase a lot of advertising and don’t really know if their success is due to offering genuine information or just marketing and good old business tactics. Most of their books are offered through Harper Arrington.

Are you prepared to start a business

Wanting to start a clothing business and being prepared are two different entities. On the other hand most rush into the fact of starting a business from the excitement of thinking one day you will have your own fashion business empire and you can ditch that old 9-5. Without really laying out your responsibilities and your availability you could be setting your self up for a world of trouble. A business is just as tedious and needy as your everyday 9-5, but the only difference is that you are in charge, you decide what time your shift starts, you take the hit when money is lost, you hire & fire, you delegate, you decide the day to day task that need to be completed and ultimately you are responsible for the success of your business. So let me ask you again are you ready?

When I ask are you ready it isn’t just pertaining to one aspect of your business or life. I’m coming at you from all angles financially, physically, mentally, and do you have ample time to put into making your fashion business a huge success.

Financial-Do you have sufficient capital to run your business without profit for at least 1-2 years. I’m not saying it can’t be done without the above, but to be on the safe side….I didn’t, but not having substantial amount of money when starting a clothing business is almost career suicide it takes just that much more work and creativity to pick up where your business lacks in “deep” pockets, which is what keeps you off the major clothing lines heels….

Make sure and take a look at Part 1 of In-Depth Step by Step Guide to Starting a Clothing Line.

If you still don’t understand this is an ongoing series and won’t stop until we are finished and this is the most In-Depth Step by Step Guide on Starting a clothing line.

So your feedback is very much needed! Thanks

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