Being an entrepreneur nowadays is about taking advantage of all the opportunities that you have in front of you.
To help shortcut your path to success in today's dynamic apparel landscape, here are five lessons that I wish someone had told me when I started.
Listen to your customers
Who are the people you and your business will serve? Who exactly is your product for? If you can’t imagine who your ideal customers are, that’s a sign that perhaps starting a business isn’t the best path for you right now. Many aspiring entrepreneurs make this mistake. They spend a lot of time designing and developing the “perfect” product they think the marketplace needs, without real concrete evidence and solid market research. Only to be disappointed to find there’s no real need for their product. Take the time to dig deep by really understanding who your business will serve.
Find your passion
My entrepreneurial journey wasn’t always a smooth ride. There were many bumps and blocks along the way. It's really important that you are passionate about what you're doing because things get hard and that passion is what will carry you through. Even if it doesn't feel like your job right now is directly related to what you want to be doing, focus on excelling at it and look for opportunities within your current role.
One of the hardest things as a founder and entrepreneur is learning how to let go. As your team grows, you're not going to be able to be hands on every project, so hiring people that you trust is really important. Take the time to hire the right people that share your vision and passion.
Do your homework
As a small business owner, time and money are your most precious resources. As the saying goes: haste makes waste, sometimes you can’t afford making costly mistakes. Take the time to properly understand the facts and do the research. Just like the analogy my sewing instructor used to say: measure twice, cut once.
It’s also important when starting off your new business to closely monitor your expenses. I purchased only what I needed, in terms of inventory I made the minimal amount that I knew I could sell even though I wouldn’t get the big cost savings that came with buying larger amounts. But I knew I could control my cash flow and not get into a crunch until I was able to build up my sales to be able to purchase the volume. I always erred on the side of caution and was conservative when it came to cash flow and making purchases.
Build your network
When you’re starting out as an entrepreneur it can feel lonely, especially if you work from home. It’s important to surround yourself with the right people who will support you and uplift you when times are tough. Learning from experts such as mentors and coaches are critical to helping you move along when you get stuck. A coach can be someone to hold you accountable to get things done and give you guidance to help you get back on track. Having an expert who’s been through it can help you avoid some of the pitfalls when first starting out and that can save you from costly and time-consuming mistakes.
Keep asking questions
Getting your product into market is a process which involves continuous refinement. Rarely does anyone get it right the first time. Therefore, ask questions that give you insight into how customers use the product. What is their pain point? What problems do they need solved? What do they believe in and value? How can you improve existing products?
Always be asking why. Knowing why you're doing every single thing that you do gives your team and business a purpose. Whether it's big things like launching a new product, or little day-to-day things, make sure you know why you're doing it. It will help guide your decisions and make sure everyone is on the same page.
If you are interested in learning brand funding and development, launch strategies, growth management and product innovation from me, click here to sign up for my Group Coaching Program. Spaces Limited!
I also offer 1:1 consulting if that suits your needs better. I only work with a small number of clients. Please book a call with me to see if 1:1 consulting is right for you.
Do you want to learn how to target your best customers without coming across as salesy and pushy?
Do you need clarity around what specific product best represents what you actually do or sell?
Are you conflicted about which product to focus on that you’ve actually built two separate businesses, complete with multiple business cards, and even multiple websites?
Well, then you’ve come to the right place. In this informative and action-packed article, you will learn:
What is niching and Why you’re insane if you don’t niche
Some myths on niching and why niche-phobia is a common problem of start-ups
How to pick your niche
I’m Glynis, a clothing brand owner turned business coach with 20 years apparel industry experience. Before launching my coaching practice, I ran a clothing design company called Punch Brand. I started my business in 2005 as a hobby while I was working full time as a Product Manager for Reebok Canada. That hobby eventually turned into a full-time business for me that led to creating and selling my products globally. At one point, I caught the attention of the Google campus merchandise buyer and we collaborated on several official Android apparel and accessories for the Google merchandise store. I ran Punch Brand for an amazing 10 years!
Who’s your ideal customer? You know that saying, “If you’re everything to everyone, then you’re nothing to no one”. Knowing who you help and how you help them is a big part of an effective marketing strategy. I personally find it so frustrating when clients cannot choose what business they’re in. Many business owners with a product they don’t consider to be niche, resist the idea of narrowing the focus of their marketing, fearing that they will lose business. However, choosing a niche and targeting it can actually increase sales. Here’s how it worked for my business.
I started out creating character inspired headwear for anime fans. Pretty niche right? I was predominantly selling my products at anime and comic conventions, because that’s where my customers hang out. Everything I created was designed for this one specific customer. And guess what? That’s how Google found me. They were looking for someone to design and produce Android mascot hoodies and beanies for them. I guess I showed up on the search engine… they are Google after all.
Niching also helps with becoming known as the expert in your field. When your business is niched very finely and you’re always talking about and writing about the same pain point, you become regarded as an expert. Tired of competing on price? Niching is the best way to command a higher price point. Once you’re perceived to be the only person for that specific job, nobody will blink at or haggle about your prices ever again. Niching brings higher quality clients. When you increase the quality of what you offer in terms of value, the clients you attract will be of the same quality. It’s the law of attraction. Like attracts like.
If your strengths and passion lie in knitwear, then do that.
If your intent is to educate and lessen the impact of fast-fashion on the environment, then focus on sustainable design.
If you love cosplay and Japanese pop culture, then start a brand that’s entirely devoted to fans of anime and cosplay. That’s what I did!
To help demonstrate the importance of picking just one type of Client and one thing you sell, I’ve broken it down into 4 different examples:
The Generalist
The Product Specialist
The Client Specialist
The Perfectly Niched
So what is a niche exactly? I’ll demonstrate these models using clothing brands:
The Generalist: The GAP
The GAP’s client type are men, women, children, babies, Anyone, and everyone. They sell casual and work apparel, denim, fleece and even yoga and workout wear and whatever trend they jump on. And what kind of pricing does the GAP have? It’s pretty affordable, it’s for everyone. They always have a discount rack with markdowns for those discount shoppers. It’s pretty middle of the road, certainly not a place you would shop for something that’s good quality or unique. This business caters to every client type and features everything to sell. It’s not niched at all that’s why I call them the generalist.
The Product Specialist: Lululemon
Lululemon caters to every type of client type from men, women, teens, people who want to appear fashionable. What’s different about them is their focus on the “thing they sell” and that’s all about Yoga. Because Lululemon was essentially the first to bring yoga clothing to the mainstream market they can charge a premium for their brand name but because they cater to every client type, they’re still not as narrowly niched as other businesses. This is the product specialist type of business model.
The Client Specialist: Mr. Big & Tall
In this business model which I’ve called the Client Specialist, things are flipped from the Lululemon model. Mr. Big & Tall only has 1 client type, tall men but things they sell are varied. You should be getting an idea of where this niching model is going.
The Perfectly Niched
The last and ideal model of business niching is demonstrated by the fourth clothing brand type and that’s my brand crazyheads. We create animal-inspired apparel for fans of anime and Japanese pop culture. When we started out we were able to command a pretty high price point because we were the only ones producing this type of product for this market. The competition was relatively low and we could sell upwards of 100 hoodies at 1 weekend show at a $65 price point, not to mention several hundred hats at $25 each. Our customers loved our products and would come and hang out with us at the shows.
Still on the fence about whether to niche your business? Even if you could move from a generalist to any kind of specialist, you’ll be better off than you are now.
So, how do you pick? Let me take you through the process of picking your niche.
Step 1: Make a list of all the client types you’d like to work with.
Step 2: Make a list of all the different things that you sell
Step 3: Match up each client type and the thing you sell, then give yourself a score out of 1 to 10, being the most desirable for you. Rate them based on the following criteria:
Fit for you, your personal preference, skill set, experience, and background
Fit for the income you want- how many of this group x how much you would charge per person
Access- your ability to reach your target and how accessible they are to you in large numbers
Add up the scores for each client/ product combo
Which has the highest score?
CONGRATS! You found your niche!
In conclusion, niching helps you get very clear on your marketing message. When you serve two target markets, whose trade show do you invest your very limited marketing funds to? As a small business owner time and money are your most valuable resources. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day, or money in the bank for any business to be able to afford to have a multitude of products, services as well as target markets to wow. Picking one or two just makes economic sense.
Do you have niche phobia? Please share in the comments section below.
