Make sure your fashion brand is awesome if you want to create a great business. Mediocre or even just ok doesn’t cut it anymore. It used to be that having a good sales organization was enough to get you into retailers and keep you there. Creating a product that is a must have for your customer is essential to building a growing and sustainable business. Sometimes it involves creating something a consumer didn’t know they needed till you created it. Companies like Spanx which created a new version of support wear and Lululemon which started the whole athleisure craze are prefect examples of this.
However a new brand doesn’t always have to design a whole new concept. It can be a new approach to a category that already exists. You must always have a USP (unique selling proposition). Additionally you need a kick ass product. Buyers must love your line. While perfection is not possible or even worth pursuing having great product is.
So what do you do to make sure your fashion brand is awesome? I always look at the following 5 as what a line needs to be awesome:
- Aesthetics are important. After all this is fashion. It is all about the look of a garment. Is it great looking to your target market?
- Fit is another key. If a garment doesn’t fit well it doesn’t sell. Spend some time in a fitting room and that will convince you.
- Quality and value are critical as well. I worked with a brand (won’t say who) that was consistently 20% higher than the competition. My business would have tripled if the value price ratio was there.
- On time delivery is another big factor in your success. This is something a lot of manufacturers have problems with. Even seasoned ones. Make sure your product is on the selling floor during the optimal selling time. As a previous coat manufacturer I know what happens if I lose a month of selling time on the floor because my product is late. Stores put coats on sale after Christmas (and usually before) so I can never make that time up.
- Great customer service essential to building an awesome fashion brand. You want you customers to love working with you. Sometimes companies grow so fast they neglect good customer service. They think because demand is so high that they are too important to for accounts to ignore. Believe me that gets old fast. So never ever neglect this part of your business.
