When Should I Take The Plunge To Start My Own Fashion Business? Five Factors To Think About.   So you’ve got a great idea and want to start your own fashion business. Maybe you even have a business plan. You know who your customers will be, you’ve researched how you want to incorporate your business, and you’ve studied the competition. You’ve got it all figured out! So what’s stopping you? Is there a little voice in your head filling it with insecurity and doubt? While risk is part of the nature of starting your own business, there are a few factors to think about that will help you determine if you should take the plunge.

 In addition to the nuts and bolts business elements such as analyzing market size and addressing all the legal issues, here are some of the personal factors that I thought long and hard about before starting my own fashion business.  1)     Passion – You are going to be immersed in your business. Your business will become your life. Do you have the passion for style, retail, ecommerce, beauty, or blogging? Whatever it is, can you think about it, eat, drink, sleep and talk about it 24 hours a day? If this is a passing interest, you may want to think twice about quitting your day job. But if this is a true passion of yours, go for it. Chances are that you’ll end up happier than you’ve ever been by pursuing your passion. 2)     Perseverance – Building a fashion business – a successful one that is profitable -  is tough and takes time. Do you have the energy to work 14+ hour days, every day including Thanksgiving and Christmas? Can you stay focused on growing this business, or are you easily swayed by other ideas every other month? Be honest with yourself.  And what if your idea doesn’t work? Are you open-minded enough to pivot and move on with another concept? Sure you may have an idea that will make you a million bucks in three months, but it’ll probably take you a lot longer than that to get into the black, so make sure you have the stamina for the long race ahead, filled with blood, sweat and tears. Ok, hopefully not the blood, but definitely the sweat and tears. 3)     Network – While we know that you’re a strong individual who can do it all, you really can’t do it all or you’ll wear yourself thin. Regardless of whatever you’re doing, you need people to help you, preferably ones who are in the fashion industry. You need a network of friends and mentors that will be a source of emotional support, serve as a reality check and steer you in the right direction when you’re going down the wrong path. You need a network to introduce you to people such as investors and customers. If you don’t already have a network in fashion, get plugged in with a professional network, alumni group, or trade association. Attend Meetup Groups. Go out there and meet people in person. Reach out to like-minded entrepreneurs, bloggers or influencers to learn more about your industry or role. Get ready to hustle! 4)     Runway – The startups that survive are ones that have the cash to continue burning. Startups die because they run out of resources… aka money. Make sure that you have enough saved up to sustain your cost of living as well as the cost of operating the business. Then multiply that number by three. The rule of thumb is that it always takes three times as long and three times as much to start your own business, no matter how much you think you’ve planned it all out.  If you need external investors to support your fashion business, have a plan in place to pitch investors before you’re close to running out of money.   5)     Traction – Keep your day job until you have some traction. Traction could be actual sales or customers for your business. It could be potential investors who are interested in supporting you. It could even be a significant number of followers on a blog or Facebook page dedicated towards your fashion business concept. Whatever it is, you need to show that there is demand for your business and that the demand is potentially big enough to make it worthwhile to quit your day job.   Taking the plunge to start my own fashion business has been one of the most rewarding and challenging decisions of my life. I am the happiest I’ve ever been because I’m pursuing a passion. But more importantly, I made sure to plan and consider all the factors I’d need to have in place in order to continue pursuing that passion for a some time to come.  Check out STYLECABLE to see what I’ve been working on. If you’d like some advice on the nuts and bolts of starting a business, check out the Small Business Administration’s 20 Questions Before Starting to help you jumpstart.  

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