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I received an email through the How to start your own clothing line myspace page. Asking a question on writing a business plan which I happen to be covering business plans in the blog that day….so decided to make it part 2 of the series.

When writing a business plan whether it is for business reasons (guiding your business) or trying to secure an investment from an angel or venture capitalist you must know who your competitors are and what are their strengths/weaknesses. The note I received asked questions like:

1. Who are my competitors?
2. Would my competitors be the major labels like Ralph Lauren/Sean John or small companies like myself?
3. How would I know their strengths and weaknesses????

I believe a competitor is anyone who you share a market with or could possibly take dollars from or both striving to achieve a common goal in the same field like Dell/Apple, Tommy Hilfiger/Ralph Lauren, or even Myspace/Facebook. Most investors don’t like to read a business plan and read that you have no competitors…if there are no competitors than most likely they think their is no demand for the product in the market or you are thinking very unrealistically. With that said why would they invest in your company? Believe me they wouldn’t. When identifying their strengths and weaknesses you might not have exact facts, but you know if you studied the market some of the areas they lack in whether it is quality, design, or areas you think you out weigh them in could be a weakness and counted as your strength. Part 2 of series see Part 1

Fashion Industry Ceo

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