Fashion entrepreneurs have one thing in common. They always seek to grow their businesses. They see themselves as a major brand and rightfully so. While they may not necessarily want a billion dollar brand a $20 million brand can make them very happy. So how do they do that? Here is what I suggest.
- Expand on seasons deliveries – I have worked with brands that do most of their business in one season. For example a cashmere line that ships 90% of their product in the fall. I have them add spring fabrications so that they can increase sales by shipping more for spring then ever before. For brands that do business for fall and spring I have them add additional groups to ship in other months.
- Grow your sales team – Adding additional sales reps, both showroom sales and independent reps can make a significant difference to your volume.
- Increase your marketing – Are you doing all you can to get your message out? Review your social media, email marketing, retargeting efforts, and PR with an eye to expanding on what you are doing. The idea is to create more buzz in order to drive customers to your site with the goal of internet sales or having them look for a store where they can buy you product.
- Broaden your product assortment – If you make sweaters, perhaps you can add some bottoms to work with them. I have a tie company as a client and we added pocket squares. I also have an activewear client and we added sports bras. There are many natural adjacencies to product lines so just figure out what makes sense for your brand.
- Rework best sellers – When I ran Jessica Simpson we had a coat that sold very well at retail. Our first season we sold 500 units. We took the body and reworked it by offering different lengths, different sleeves, changed the collar, and offered it in plus sizes. We must have sold 50,000 units of that coat in all the incarnations and it always sold well at retail.
Fashion Business is one such business that will continue to grow forever but the only concern here is that fashion doesn't stay for long. It keeps changing so you need to keep a check on that as well.
Thanks for sharing this article with us
I totally agree! Thanks for your comments.