How to write a simple business plan for an international clothing line business
How to write a simple business plan for an international clothing line business
One of the most lucrative businesses in the world today is the clothing line business. This is one industry that has made a lot of millionaires, following the entertainment industry. The opportunities are vast and the traffic is much, so if you are considering starting a clothing line business, not just any type, but one that operates in the international space, it is important to know certain things and let them influence how your business is planned from the beginning. This is why in this article I will be considering, “How to write a simple business plan for an international clothing line business”.
One of the reasons why many people fail in the clothing line business is because they do not consider business planning anything important – some people are not even aware that there is anything like planning that should be done before jumping into the mainstream of a business. Again, part of what you need to do is to study individuals who have proven track record of success in the area of business you are trying to venture into. This is quite important and cannot be overemphasized.
When starting a clothing line business of an international repute, you need a business plan to be in place long before you have ever come up with your first design!
A good business plan will help you define and design your short-term goals as well as your long-term goals. It will also help you to structure your business and set it up for success from day one. A good business plan will not just help you set good goals in your clothing line business, it will also help you clear methods and mean to achieving the business goals that you have set. Now, this is not all that a business plan does for your business, it also helps you to show clearly to your suppliers, customers, investors, and other stakeholders and businesses that you are serious minded entrepreneur who is not just wishing for a success in your business but has created a plan to achieve the success you crave for – this is immediately obvious to anyone from your outlined action plan to profitability and scaling as revealed in your business plan. Essentially, if you have no plan, it is a way of telling all the stakeholder you will need and meet along your business journey that you are an unserious fellow who have planned to fail in business since you have given no thought to having a plan for succeeding – and mind you, that plan cannot be said to exist in your mind, it must be written down in clear, specific terms.
How To Write A Clothing Line Business Plan
I know writing a business plan can seem like a daunting task, and many times, you may require some external help to get you through. Whichever way you go about it, some of the following things I will share with you remain very relevant and you must not lose sight of them no matter what. The most important advice I should probably give you before talking about other things is that you ensure to keep your business plan quite simple, and please do not get carried away by any means with too many jargons and big terminologies like the practice of some people is. Write your plan in a way that makes a child understand when he reads it. That way, you ensure that your business plan has no ambiguity attached and it can be understood by anyone who reads it irrespective of their level of expertise with tech or language. Now, let’s dive right into how to write a business plan for your clothing line business.
How to write a simple business plan for an international clothing line business
- Research the market
If there is any mistake that business owners keep making over and over, it is starting a business based on too many assumptions, and little or no research at all. In business, fact and figures are rather more dependable for making decisions than assumptions and gut feelings. In fact, let me shock you: in business, making decision based on “experience” can get you in trouble many times. Data is your best friend for making business decisions and you won’t pluck data on trees like oranges, you get data by engaging in research. Not giving yourself the time to research your market so you can decide on the best way to position yourself in the market is one evil too many that has plagued the business world with many entrepreneurs falling victims of this error, day in, day out. Do not make that mistake!
To be safe, start your research by studying other clothing line businesses that have existed for years long before you came up on the scene. Study those who have succeeded as well as those who have failed, and understand why. Learn lessons from those who have gone ahead of you so you can avoid their mistake while copying their wisdom – this will go a long way to help you succeed in your business.
Additionally, there are other data sources where you can get facts and figures about the clothing industry and what obtains: what kind of clothes sells the best, where do your target audience live, what is their buying patterns, what are the psychological triggers you can employ in your attempt to market your brand to the market you want to serve? And so on. A good research can help you find answers to all these questions, and more.
- Write your plan
It should be plainly obvious by now why this point has to be number 2. What I have found is that many people try to make it number 1 and little wonder why they fail ultimately even when they think they have a plan. Your business plan makes sense (and will yield expected results) to the degree of the facts and figures (gotten from research) that it stands on. After you have gathered your facts and figures for decision making, you now have the needed resources to fill various aspects of your business plan. A business plan has the following main parts, for clarity:
They are…
- Executive summary
- Company overview
- Product/services
- Marketing strategies
- Sales strategy
- Competitive analysis
- Production plan
- Operation plan
- Financial analysis and projections
This article does not break all of these aspects of a business plan into details (because that is not the focus) but you can read some of my other articles that clearly expatiate on each of the points listed above.
Read Also: A peep into the business plans of world’s biggest Three: Apple, Facebook and Google
- Execute your plan
Now, you are done writing your award-winning business plan document but what good does it do if all you did was to write? After writing your plan, you must begin to execute and this part is where many entrepreneurs get things messed up! There is no need to laden you with unnecessary information here, there are only two things I will advise – and it has never failed:
If you are certain due diligence was done when writing your plan and that the plan is based on well researched data rather than assumptions, then go ahead and follow your plan. There is no need to begin to things contrary to your written plan, except, of course, you do not believe in the process that created it.
- Start small but think big
This is another topic and I could speak a whole day on this. However, I am here to make life and business easy for you, so I’ll keep it simple. If it is your goal to serve a very big market, say the whole of Africa, for instance, attempting to begin by catering for everyone in Africa isn’t a good business practice and such approach can jeopardize your entire chances to succeed by growing. Starting small in this case would mean, testing your market by focusing on a city or a state in Nigeria, to begin with, for instance. From there, you can measure your success rate against your plan, learn some lessons that can be applied to a bigger market, and then scale a little bit more by covering bigger markets. This is a wisdom of all time and you cannot afford to violate this and not burn your fingers in the business race.
If you need a service of a Professional Business plan writer, then Dayo Adetiloye Business Hub is the place to go Call or WhatsApp us now on 081 0563 6015, 080 7635 9735 or send an email to dayohub@gmail.com and we will solve any of your business plan problems.
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Call or WhatsApp us now on 081 0563 6015, 080 7635 9735 or send an email to dayohub@gmail.com and we will solve any of your business problems.
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