A female friend of mine is thinking of starting her own clothing line. Where does she start and who does she have to get in touch with?
Clothing Line
- Thread starter El_Mariachi
- Start date
She should start sewing and she should contact people who want to buy clothes! lol
I know it sounds like a smartass comment but it is the truth.
She has to have samples made,
she has to decide what market she is going after,
She has to have a business plan in order to get financing to go into production, (unless she will farm the mfg out to someone else but even then she will most likely have to pay 50% up front, and 50% on delivery)
She has to approach the buyers for retail outlets that she thinks would be appropriate to carry her items,
or She has to decide how she will market/sell the items herself.
In a nutshell, I would suggest she start smaller and make up a set of sizes of each item then get a booth at a flea market. That way she can get her feet wet without too much capitol outlay.
If she is going that rate, (selling the items retail herself) she will need a BIN (business ID number) which will get her a gst number. (she will need one of these even if she pays someone else to mfg the items). If she will be selling direct to the public she will also need a vendor permit for PST purposes.
The ontario/canadian government small business website has a lot of info.
I know it sounds like a smartass comment but it is the truth.
She has to have samples made,
she has to decide what market she is going after,
She has to have a business plan in order to get financing to go into production, (unless she will farm the mfg out to someone else but even then she will most likely have to pay 50% up front, and 50% on delivery)
She has to approach the buyers for retail outlets that she thinks would be appropriate to carry her items,
or She has to decide how she will market/sell the items herself.
In a nutshell, I would suggest she start smaller and make up a set of sizes of each item then get a booth at a flea market. That way she can get her feet wet without too much capitol outlay.
If she is going that rate, (selling the items retail herself) she will need a BIN (business ID number) which will get her a gst number. (she will need one of these even if she pays someone else to mfg the items). If she will be selling direct to the public she will also need a vendor permit for PST purposes.
The ontario/canadian government small business website has a lot of info.
El_Mariachi said:
Ask her to make a trip to Hong Kong, that's wear all the high quailty clothes are made.
China is the only way to go
http://www.alibaba.com/
check out the above web site. I found a very good supplier for an amplifier line I am importing.
Canada is not a good choice for textile manufacturing, you really need to look offshore. It is not difficult, and will be about 1/3 of producing locally.
http://www.alibaba.com/
check out the above web site. I found a very good supplier for an amplifier line I am importing.
Canada is not a good choice for textile manufacturing, you really need to look offshore. It is not difficult, and will be about 1/3 of producing locally.
I'd suggest trying to find a way to sell them on/near university or college campuses to the students. Assuming that's the demographic she's going for.
Better advice would be for her to get a job with someone/some company that already does this and learn from their mistakes. All too often I meet people trying to do things that I'm sure they love but, to be honest, don't have a clue as to how they're going about it.
Better advice would be for her to get a job with someone/some company that already does this and learn from their mistakes. All too often I meet people trying to do things that I'm sure they love but, to be honest, don't have a clue as to how they're going about it.
