Anyone Ever Start a Small Business...

[Alberthype]

Hey r3v,

I am in the drawing room with one of my good friends about starting our own Clothing brand. Does anyone have any experience with this and what it would entail ?

As an example here is a locally started brand called Myth. It falls under the Streetwear genre but it's very popular with the younger crowd.

http://mythworldwide.com/

"Give people more than what they're paying for. That's how you build a following"
^^^This!!!
Mainly college students and high school kids
Intellectual Swagger I call it...
I'm not sure what we want to call it. But I want to build a brand that needs to have a message deeper than just designs...
Anyone can make a shirt that's cool looking but need to represent something.
Any advice or suggestions would be amazing. Thanks:D

[Ryan...]

Intellectual Swagger

No.

[mrsleeve]

Make QUALITY and sell it for a reasonable price A good quality t shirt is hard to find, same with sweat shirts, Champion and carhartt stopped making the really good ones along time ago.

[ak-]

why

[Alberthype]

HAHA okay I'm not going to call it Intellectual Swagger but thats what i'm aiming for(Great style for the young individual i guess).

I hate the word swagger but I couldn't come up with a better one when writing this.

The picture of that Myth Man haha thats one of my bros... idk what else to say other than...we are young.... -_-

[mulletman]

idk what else to say other than...we are young.... -_-

You can be young and still know how to wear a pair of pants.

[mr.vang]

woman clothing is what you want to sale. girls will buy anything at any price.

[glnr13]

work your costs backwards from your MSRP. Retail price/2.2/2.2
example: $40 tee at retail = $18 wholesale cost = $8.10 is the most you can spend to make the shirt to cover your ass on cost. don't spend more than 10% of that on trim (hangtags, labels, etc. that shit is disposable anyway)

research all your possible competitors for their pricepoints and compare the products.
$25 vs $40, american made vs china, dye sublimation vs screen printing vs DTG.
if you're on a tight budget or small starting point begin your branding with premade tees and print them using one of the above techniques.

keep your minimums for production in mind, make good samples, get good sales people.

exposure and branding. follow people/companies you like. try to collaborate. don't hide shit, work with a sharing mentality and you'll get further.

and get used to not sleeping.

i have more info if you wanna pm me. i've been in clothing design and production since 1999 doing overseas, domestic, boys, kids, mens, young mens, streetwear, action sports, premium, denim all kinds of product. i have no problem giving you some contacts too if you need to produce. have integrity and practice good business ethics, this industry is very small and people remember too much.

for names/brand name, choose something that is timeless and not specific to a crowd or niche. if you wanna last then your audience and consumers will grow and you want them to follow you as they get older. don't stay as the college thing because they'll walk away once they "grow out of it" and you have to hunt for more customers.

good luck!

[Hooffenstein HD]

why

Kids these days. No idea how to dress themselves.

[e30trooper]

Abbys just jelly cuz his pants arnt as tight :P

[george graves]

work your costs backwards from your MSRP. Retail price/2.2/2.2
example: $40 tee at retail = $18 wholesale cost = $8.10 is the most you can spend to make the shirt to cover your ass on cost.

Yea, that's the quick and dirty explanation. But you'll go broke following that without considering all your real "costs" - you have to include your pay, medical/dental, equipment upgrades, expendable, rent, shipping, website, returns, blah blah blah.

For example, the cost for the parts of things I make don't really factor into the price - unless there are several expensive items.

I remember reading once that the most expensive part of a new car was the health insurance for the workers who built the thing(or something like that)

[ak-]

Haha first it was buyin baggy pants too big so they sag under your ass.
Now it's buying pants too small they don't fit over your ass.

:rofl:

[ohthejosh]

I was part of the baggy saggy pants trend in middle school. Now I wear pants that fit. Well theyve become tighter that usual due to my weight gain LOL but sits comfortably covering my ass.

[Fleksta]

The picture of that Myth Man haha thats one of my bros... idk what else to say other than...we are young.... -_-

[herbivor]

I shop at Target for clothes to avoid gangsters and cool kids.