Managing distribution as your on-line fashion boutique grows.

Space for a growing business is always an issue.

One of the main Routes to Market for many of the Start Up Loan businesses we work with is selling their products on-line, either via their own e-commerce website or on other marketplaces.

These on-line boutiques are often run from home, to keep overheads to a minimum, and technology has made it possible to be a global brand from your bedroom. However, as a  business becomes successful and orders increase, it may well become impractical to manage the distribution from home as additional space and staff may be required to accommodate stock and order processing.

This can be a critical point for the business as it may be doing well, but taking on premises and staff is another ball game. The extra financial commitment can easily turn a company making a small profit in to one making a loss.

courtesy of www.saderose.com

Luckily there are ways to manage this growth spurt without taking on large overheads. There are now an increasing number of order fulfilment houses that are set up to take in your stock from the manufacturer and distribute to your customers on your behalf. Traditionally these distribution warehouses only wanted to work with high volumes of stock and deliver to business premises. They were used mainly by large brands delivering to  retailers, but the experiential growth of on-line sales has led to many offering a menu of services to smaller web based retailers including pick and pack distribution, re-processing and customer service.

Obviously there are fees attached to these services, which will need to be included in to your cost prices, but this can be a cost effective way of managing growth. There are many fulfilment warehouses to choose from including Intermail and Amazon offer this service for goods not even sold on their site.

As ever, you’ll need to do your research to check out the comparative costs between companies offering these services. You should find out who else they work for, if they have minimum quantities, where they can distribute to (national and international?), what level of service they can offer you ect. You'll need to manage the relationship carefully and brief them on how to respond to customers and how your goods should be packed as it is important they maintain your standards and reflect your brand in a positive way. Mystery shopping can be a good tool to monitor their effectiveness and check if they are following your brief.

If your brand continues to grow there will come a point where the critical mass could mean it is better to take on premises and staff to bring the distribution back in-house, but by that time hopefully the business will be in a stronger position to take that next step.

If you want to find out more, our practical Routes to Market workshop will inspire you and further information on access to funding and free mentoring is on our Start Up Loan page.

If you'd like to share your experiences with fulfilment houses and have any recommendations for our community,  we'd love to hear from you.

By Alison Lewy

Video of the Week - Tory Burch gives Business Advice for Fashion Entrepreneurs

Our favourite video this week is this video featuring Tory Burch speaking about women entrepreneurs, the importance of having your own point of view in the fashion industry, and advising to never say no and always think forward.

A great inspiration for all fashion entrepreneurs!  


By Katja Widder

David Longshaw on Setting Up his Own Fashion Label

In this week's interview we talked to fashion entrepreneur David Longshaw, Founder and Designer of one of London’s highly regarded emerging designer brands.

David graduated from Central St Martin’s with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design (womenswear) in 2005 and achieved an MA from the RCA in 2007, and has been nominated for numerous international design awards. 

In February 2010, after gaining experience as a designer at Alberta Ferretti and Max Mara in Italy, David returned to the UK to launch his own label. He won the BFC/ELLE Talent Launch Pad 2010 and was selected for the ‘ones to watch’ catwalk show by Fashion Scout and to show at the LFW Exhibition. Today, David Longshaw’s collections are sold worldwide in the UK, USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai and more.

David shared with us some of his valuable experience running his own fashion label.

When did you decide you wanted to launch your own label?

I knew I wanted to start my own label before I went to Central St. Martins. This was the reason I wanted to go there and then decided to complete my MA at the RCA.

How did you decide when was the right time to set up the label ?

It was important for me to gain some experience before starting my own label and working for Max Mara gave me the chance to gain high end commercial experience. Once I learnt as much as I could, I felt ready to come back to England and start my own label.

Having gained valuable industry  experience but felt I had  my own distinctive style (in design) to offer. Also, I wanted to start my label before I got too comfortable with the job I was doing. 

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

That people enjoy wearing my clothes and take pleasure in my work. The likes of Isabella Blow (when I was at St Martins), Helena Christensen wearing my clothes and Mary Quant complimenting me on my designs.

What has been the most difficult obstacle in your career until now, and how did you overcome it?

Dealing with Maude’s ego (Maude is the fictional fabric mouse I created whilst at St Martins and have illustrated for various magazines including Vogue Italia and vogue.com)

What support structures have helped the business grow?

When my first capsule collection was selected for Fashion Scout's ‘one’s to watch’ catwalk show and for the LFW exhibition I was lucky to receive mentoring from them. At that point, different PR agencies also approached me to represent the brand. Another important element was hiring an accountant. Many young designers forget about the money side and think they can just spend all their time designing collections. You have to make sure that you are on top of the finances.

I also received support from the UKFT to exhibit in Paris for Fashion Week and our production is outsourced to a variety of different factories and individual machinists.  

What would you describe as the most important decision you have made in order to get to where you are today?

Deciding on the direction and style I wanted to develop for my label and to stay true to that idea was important in the development of my USP. Part of my brand positioning strategy was to showcase my creativity through multiple channels.

I created a weekly comic strip for Vogue Italia online and an animation for LOVE magazine, as well as collaborations such as a multi-media art installation for the last LFW. All of which adds to the label in general.

After the  ‘One’s to watch’ catwalk, I had to decide which route to take. I didn't want to invest all the business's money in to catwalk presentations. Catwalk shows can cost 20- 50K and grow to 100-200K, and this twice a year. It's just not a sustainable business model for young designers.

Catwalks work as part of the advertising and marketing strategies of big labels like Chanel. I didn't want to get too wrapped up in the (catwalk show) glory. As a young designer you need to sell the collection, and it needs to make sense as a business. That’s why I decided to exhibit in Paris and London where I can meet people who are relevant to my business such as buyers and press. At exhibitions you meet people face to face and can build relationships.

What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who plan to start their own fashion label?

Do your research! Absorb information about pricing, stores, range plans, etc. – talk to different people at different stages of their business journey. Networking and introductions are very important. As an example, through gaining funding  to exhibit in Paris I was invited to a party at the British Ambassador’s residence and introduced to the owner of a store, which lead to a collaboration.

With everything you are doing you must be extremely busy. How do you fit everything in?

I like to have several projects at one time I tend to work more efficiently when I'm very busy – the projects can all help inspire each other and when I'm resolving problems for one aspect of a collection it may give me an idea for another project…also I don’t get much sleep.........

What are the business goals that motivate you? 
To continue being as creative as possible and to create clothing, designs, animations that people love.

David Longshaw A/W 13/14

David Longshaw A/W 13/14

Illustrations by David Longshaw

Interview by Katja Widder 

Digital Innovation in Fashion Contest launches

Announcing the launch of the ‘Digital Innovation Contest – Fashion’ in association with the British Fashion Council (BFC) and the Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO), to encourage digital innovations that can be applied in the fashion and retail industry.

Offering four businesses the opportunity to develop innovative commercial prototypes that meet the broad objectives that have been set out, together with industry partners BOXPARK, Holition, the London College of Fashion’s Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE) and Designer-Manufacturer Innovation Support Centre (DISC), and Bauer Media/Grazia.

This contest is offering four awards of up to £25K to develop innovative solutions


Theme one: Design

• One award of up to £25k for the development of a prototype service or application for the “mass personalisation and customisation” challenge supported by London College of Fashion – DISC & CFE. 
• One award of up to £25k for the development of a prototype service or application for the “intelligent clothing and accessories” challenge supported by Holition. 

Theme two: Retail

• One award of up to £25k for the development of a prototype service or application for the “the mall of the future” challenge supported by BOXPARK. Read more.

Theme three: Media

• One award of up to £25k for the development of a prototype service or application for the “creating a communal and responsive experience through mobile technology” challenge supported by Bauer Media/ Grazia.

The contest is open to any company or developer; it is not necessary to have an existing app or service to apply, or to be currently active in the challenge sector. Applications will be judged on the level of innovation of the proposed prototype, which should meet the specific category challenge and show wider commercial potential and applicability. The applicants must also have a clear idea of the revenue earning potential/business model of their proposed solution.

In addition to the funding, winners of the ‘Digital Innovation Contest – Fashion’ will retain their intellectual property and benefit from the valuable opportunity to establish an early customer for their new technology, by running a minimum three-month trial with the relevant contest partner.

Deadline for submissions to the contest is 12 noon, Wednesday 12 July.

Full contest and application details are available here.

Using Fashion Industry Market Research For Business Development

Research is key to making any business successful and even more relevant to the fashion industry as the variety of products and diversity of your potential customer is vast. The information you gather from your market research will feed in to your business plan and help you identify where your products/idea will fit within the context of the following questions:-

1. What is the size of the segment of the market you want to operate in and how is it performing?
2. Who is your target customer?
3. Where and how do they shop?
4. What are the price points your target customer are willing to pay?
5. Who are your competitors?

Knowing the answers will help shape your product development and overall business direction.

Your research will encompass a variety of sources including national press, blogs,  market databases, trade magazines,  exhibitions, e-commerce platforms, and the high street.

In this post I'm focusing on the first question raised, as your starting point is to find out the size of the market, predict whether it’s an expanding or shrinking segment, and what the impact of the national and international economic climate is likely to be.

To find this out  there are on-line market prediction reports which give you information, statistics, insight, and analysis for every type of fashion and accessory product category. Large brands, marketing and advertising agencies all pay subscriptions to have this information, but the Business Library’s Business and IP Centre gives you free access to most of the main electronic research databases, and is a brilliant resource.

Below are examples of what looking at recent market reports* can tell you:-

• According to the DCMS, the current value of the clothing and footwear market in the UK is estimated at £44.8 million. This is predicted to grow between now and 2017 to £53.1 million. The following shows the levels of expenditure in the UK in 2012 for different apparel categories:
• Womenswear expenditure was £21 million, a growth rate of 13% since 2007. It is predicted to grow a further 21% from now until 2017, to reach an expenditure of £26 million.
• Menswear expenditure was £10 million, a growth rate of 10.% since 2007. It is predicted to grow a further 19% from now until 2017, to reach an expenditure of £11 million.
• Childrenswear expenditure was £5 million, a growth rate of 7% since 2007. It is predicted to grow a further 14% from now until 2017, to reach an expenditure of £6 million.
• Footwear expenditure was £5 million, a growth rate of 6% since 2007. It is predicted to grow a further 12% from now until 2017, to reach an expenditure of £6 million.
• Accessories expenditure was £2 million, a growth rate of 17% since 2007. It is predicted to grow a further 18% from now until 2017, to reach an expenditure of £3 million.

It has been forecasted that volume growth in the fashion industry will not regain pre-recession levels until after 2017 but as you can see, there are areas that are  growing. Despite the recession, luxury brands continue to increase sales and profits, particularly the brands that export to South East Asia and the BRIC markets.

I'll be covering this area in more depth at our forthcoming workshop -
Fashion Business Planning for Success on 12th June.

Let me know what  interesting industry statistics you've discovered?

By Alison Lewy
Founder of Fashion Angel and author of Design Create Sell - a guide to starting and running a successful fashion business.

*Courtesy of the British Library Business and IP Centre

Finance for Fashion Start Ups

At our recent  packed Finance for Fashion Start Ups networking talk, the topic was alternative sources of funding including crowdfunding and Start Up Loans. As we all know, the traditional lenders are not supportive of SMEs, and fashion related ventures are considered high risk, so it’s even tougher for this sector. The good news is that there are now some credible alternatives.

The evening featured presentations from Muriel Dupas, founder of new fashion crowdfunding platform Audacity of Fashion and Fashion Angel’s Alison Lewy, followed by a panel discussion.

Muriel Dupas from Audacity of Fashion

The event was sold out, and attracted a long waiting list, so as requested we are posting a longer blog than usual to capture the key points discussed at the event for those that missed it.

The first presentation was from Muriel, whose background in finance and experience with business angel networks, led her to notice that investors are generally only interested in fashion tech businesses as they don’t understand the fashion industry and are wary of investing. Also the nature of the fashion buying cycle means designers often have to fund several collections and have the finance to support the necessary marketing and PR before they start to generate sales, thus leaving a big funding gap.

Some interesting crowdfunding facts:-
• Rewards based crowdfunding as a route to raising finance is growing rapidly, with the biggest US platform Kickstarter hosting over 4,000 projects and raising in total 400 million since it launched in 2008.
• The platform has hosted 700 fashion specific campaigns and raised around $8million with the average campaign raising between $1- 10K.
• In the UK, NESTA reports that in 2011 £100 million was raised through crowdfunding, which is expected to have doubled in 2012, and in  5 years reach £1.5 billion

One of the most recent successful campaigns on Kickstarter was run by US premium casualwear brand Flint and Tinder. They called for online backers to fund the production of the company’s “10-Year Hoodie” and through pledges and pre-orders, attracted over 6,000 participants and raised almost $700,000 – astonishing considering they were only seeking $50,000!

However, although there are successful fashion projects as this clearly demonstrates  there success rate for fashion campaigns is only around 27%, which is the lowest of the categories hosted.

Muriel came to the conclusion that a different crowdfunding model was needed that built a community of fans specifically interested in fashion and emerging design talent, and that it should  have added value and be more than a platform for raising funds.

Integral to the Audacity of Fashion platform will be the facility for its community to collaborate and connect with each other, allowing users to recommend and find support from photographers, stylists, graphic designers etc.

Designers will also be able to use it to get feedback on their designs and market test new product ideas before going in to production.

Like all such platforms, the basic principle is using the power of followers to finance a specific project by obtaining small contributions from a large groups of fans in return for a ‘reward ‘. This might be a thank you, original sketch, ticket for show or product voucher, depending on the amount of money pledged. It could even be to spend time with you in your studio – the aim is to get your followers to be active and develop an emotional connection with your brand – they are then likely to become loyal customers in the future.

In addition if you build a big following of active fans it can be a powerful tool to use as proof of concept to show potential investors if you want to attract external investment in the future. Muriel sees the non-financial benefits of the platform as important as the funding side.

Key aspects of the AoF platform:- 

• To maintain a high quality of campaigns the platform will be curated and selected by the selection panel of fashion industry experts. The panel will be looking for designers with credible businesses that have passion and drive to drive the campaigns forward.
• Pledges will typically start low at £5 - £10.00 and go up to £1000.
• Each campaign will run for a month however if it doesn’t reach the target then you don’t get any of the money and the participants get their money back.
• The cycle will be around 10 weeks from campaign launch to receiving funds
• Application is free with a 5% charge levied only on successful campaigns, plus any transaction fees.
• Audacity of Fashion will be engaging  a cohort of high profile industry ambassadors to champion the platform to the fashion community

Muriel’s tips for a successful campaign:-

• Your campaign needs to be specific -  be clear what the funding is for. 
• Produce an engaging video that tells your story – this is your main sales tool
• You’ll need good images 
• Your campaign needs to be part of an overall communications/marketing plan - if you generate positive PR around your campaign you’re more likely to reach your goals
• Be creative with your rewards - try and monitise what you’ve already got to offer 
• Your existing family, friends & followers are likely to be the first to support you so actively build your community in advance
• Important to set a realistic target  - if you don’t reach your target you don’t get anything at all and those that have pledged will get a refund.

The platform is due to launch in Spring 2013 www.Audacityoffashion.com

Next Alison gave a short presentation regarding the Start Up Loan (SUL) scheme, a government backed initiative to support young entrepreneurs aged 18-30 with an easy to access loan and business mentoring. So far over 2700 businesses have been helped with an average loan size of £3500-£6000 although it is possible to borrow up to 10K. Larger loans are available but need approval from Start Up Loan Company.

Key Benefits of a Start Up Loan:-
• Gives start ups easy access to finance
• It’s a quick process – decisions can be made within 48 hours
• You don’t give away equity in your business
• Unsecured loan with a low interest rate of 6%
• Flexible payments terms
• Added bonus of Free mentoring
• Global Partner offers including Paypal, Ebay & Intuit
• It’s the best deal on the market

Fashion Angel is the only delivery partner to focus on supporting fashion industry entrepreneurs and so far has approved loans to a wide cross section of fashion related businesses including womenswear, menswear, plus size, swimwear, online marketplaces, jewellery, footwear  and millinery. More information is on our Fashion Angel Start Up Loan page.

The  panel discussion that followed included input from two successful SUL applicants, Remy Ray who is setting up a plus size label, and Joel Adebayo from online platform Utter Couture, who both shared their experiences with the audience. Both confirmed how the SUL loan has allowed them to put their business idea in to reality and how easy they found the application process with the support of the pre-loan mentoring which helped them understand how to generate the  financial forecasts required. They both have also taken up one of the partner offers from Regis and now have a FREE virtual office for six months.

Muriel Dupas and AlisonLewy

The talk was sold out quickly but if you want to find out more about the Start Up Loans, or see if it's right for you, we’re hosting a FREE Finance for Fashion workshop on 30th April at 10.00am.

Spaces are limited and likely to sell out quickly again. For more information go to our Fashion Angel Events page, or click here to book a place.

By Alison Lewy

Designing for Grown Up Women

If you are a fashion designer and aged around 23, you probably consider anyone of 40 to be elderly, and a 60-year-old to be so ancient as not to be worth even the slightest consideration.

This is entirely understandable, but also commercially suicidal in today’s highly competitive fashion market.

For the older woman customer has changed. These days she is unlikely to be a crinkly-haired granny clad in elasticated waist trousers and a fleece who puts her feet up with a cup of cocoa and a copy of Saga magazine.

She is far more likely to be a sassy, savvy, gym-fit woman with highlights, Acne ankle boots and Rouge Noir nails who shops at My-Wardrobe, Matches and Reiss and is probably running a PR firm, editing a magazine (Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, is 63) or, hey, like my co-director Cyndy Lessing and me, a fashion website, SoSensational.co.uk

Not only has the older woman changed, but – vitally important to you as a designer who needs to sell his or her products – she has more disposable income than any other female demographic and, most relevant for you, she likes to spend her money on fashion and luxury goods.

• According to a Mintel report, the UK population aged over 55 is in control of around 80 per cent of the country’s wealth. In 2008, it was worth £5.4 billion, and by 2014 – that’s next year – it is forecast to grow to £6.4 billion.

• According to a 2007 Mintel report, women aged 50 to 69 buy more designer fashion and luxury goods than any other group.

• In mid-2006 approximately one in five people in the UK were aged under 16 while one in six people were aged 65 or over. According to market analysts Datamonitor, in 2000 there were about 132 million over-50s in Western Europe. By 2025 there are expected to be 177 million.

If those statistics have made you feel it may be worth taking a fresh look at your attitude to grown up women we have some suggestions which may be helpful. And the good news is that, you will almost certainly be able to extend your line to appeal to an older clientele (as these images from successful luxury brands highlight) without compromising on your aesthetic vision.

Garment length 
This is a vital area to consider. If all the dresses in your collection finish four inches above the knee, your brand will not appeal to a stylish older woman. Take a look at the shapes. Will any of the styles work if they are longer? Big, high profile players like Erdem, Preen, Roland Mouret, Antonio Berardi and Jonathan Saunders have all produced wonderful dresses that are on-the-knee or over-the-knee, which would appeal to a stylish woman of any age.

A perfect example of a new designer label which has taken on board the need to produce longer hemlines  is a fabulous fashion brand called Art on Fashion, which can also be found on the SoSensational Directory. Their offering is beautiful dresses, tunics and tops, in amazing prints created using specially commissioned artwork from artists in Japan, Europe and the USA.

They could quite easily have produced garments appropriate only for a very young clientele, featuring vest tops and short dresses. What they have done, instead, is to offer those things, but they have also produced wonderful and very on-trend over-the-knee dresses and longer-length tops which would appeal to the kind of woman – of any age – who would probably like Erdem, Preen, Berardi, Mouret, Saunders, et al.

Sleeves
Sleeves are a tricky subject. It is quite likely that the image which shimmers into your head is of horrid, polyester sleeves added to a frock as an afterthought. In fact, sleeves are a key trend this season – especially bracelet-length sleeves, which play into the whole retro mood.

Fabric quality
The quality of the fabric will be largely determined by your production budget, but if you have the budget flexibility to produce a few garments in a fabric that is slightly weightier, you may find you have expanded your appeal. Lining can also make a garment appeal to an older customer. But if you can’t afford to – or don’t want to – line a garment throughout, you may want to line the skirt of a dress, especially if it is in a very light colour and very see-through.

Selling online? Give the customer the information she needs 
If you are selling on the web, give the customer as much information as you can. Key pieces of information include whether a garment is lined, the length of a garment and whether the garment is true to size. Not only do you increase the chance she will buy, but you will cut down on returns, which can be a big cost for a fledgling business. And when it comes to length, don’t rely on a model shot making it clear what length a garment is. Even if you publish the model’s height, it can still be hard to judge the correct length, so a simple measurement – in inches and cms – is simple but effective.

By Jan Shure
Jan Shure is the former fashion editor of the Jewish Chronicle, broadcaster, blogger and an award-winning magazine editor. She is co-founder of SoSensational.co.uk, the shopping website for grown-up women.

Images courtesy of Browns, Matches and My-Wardrobe, all available to shop at SoSensational

Social Media for Fashion Brands Event Summary

Last week’s Social Media for Fashion Brands networking talk was one of the busiest yet and we were lucky  to have two guests on our panel this time.  This is a longer post than usual as so much was discussed.

Fashion blogger, Lois Waller, has built a huge following since she started her Bunni Punch blog in 2009, as well as over 5,000 twitter followers. She also runs her own PR agency Carrot Top PR, so has a unique perspective from both a PR and blogger's point of view.

Our second guest was designer Harriet Posner who has extensive experience advising labels on their branding and marketing strategy and has publishing a  book Marketing Fashion as a practical guide to the principles of marketing and branding. She also lectures on Fashion Business and Marketing at the LCF and Insitute Margioni and is about to launch her own label, Brompton Finch, which produces customised interior furnishings and fashion accessories inspired by flowers.

Harriet Posner, Alison Lewy and Lois Waller

The talk was kindly hosted by the American Intercontinental University and it was lovely to see their students mix and network with our business club members and fashion entrepreneurs that attended the event.

Most of us are aware of how important blogs and social media platforms are in helping promote a fashion brand, but don’t necessarily know how to utilise these platforms to the best advantage.

Fashion Angel networking talk audience

Below is a summary of the questions posed by the chair Alison Lewy, and some tips from the panel:-

Why does a brand need a blog, and to engage with bloggers?
• Fashion bloggers are good for outfit posts to promote your product. The aim is to get several influential  bloggers to feature your designs to have a wide reach.
• A label’s own blog is a brand building tool to create an emotional connection with your target audience.
• It is important to be clear about who you are trying to reach depending on what your product and target market is.

What makes a good blog?
• A blog should portray your brand in the best light and it should reflects your brands ethos - you shouldn't use it as a platform to moan about things
• Build a conversation and a relationship with the audience by talking about your business journey, what inspires you, sharing behind the scenes footage at your studio or before a catwalk show all  can help.
• Lois’s sees Bunni Punch as an informative tool that mixes up new and old brands, luxury and low end product outfit posts  - happy to include Primark if they produce something she thinks is cool.
• It should be linked to your twitter and Facebook account so they are updated when you post.

How does it help a label reach trade buyers?
• Buyers are now using blogs to research and find new brands – it’s much easier than trawling through websites. They have to be aware of the trends and so they look to the popular bloggers to feed them with up to date information which helps them filter through the brands that approach them.
• If you show at London Fashion Week, make the most out of the opportunity and invite bloggers to attend and wear your products so hopefully they will write about your brand in their show coverage.
• If your brand has built a big following on social media sites eg twitter & Facebook, the buyers will be more inclined to look at it, as it indicates there is a demand for your product.

How does a brand attract the attention of  bloggers?
• Use twitter or email to approach them.  Not all will respond but some will.
• Be aware that now many bloggers attend the shows and contact brands just to get free products, but don’t give anything back.
• Try to build an on-going relationship with a blogger who’s going to feature you on a regular basis.

Do you have to pay  bloggers to feature products?
• The fashion blogging world has changed and some of the influential bloggers do get paid for nearly all their posts. They are offered so much money  that it is no doubt hard to refuse, but it does change the nature of the relationship.
• Lois’s focus is on creativity and showcasing new brands that interest her, in some cases she may earn some money out of it , but it doesn't influence her choices.
• Hilary felt that it’s best to take a pragmatic approach – if a customer clicks on a blog link and then goes on to purchase that product she didn't feel there was anything wrong for the blogger to earn money from it providing the relationship is transparent.
• Consumers follow blogs to see a curated selection of products from a blogger that they feel has a style aesthetic they like, so it can be look on as a service to some extent.

Harriet Posner, Alison Lewy and Lois Waller

What are the important platforms to be on?
This depends on your business model  and your segmentation targeting and positioning – you need to understand and have a presence on the platforms used by your target audience.

Twitter
• Lois told us over 80% of her new clients are through twitter. It’s a powerful research tool for businesses as can be used it to search what relevant  people are blogging about.
You can investigate who the key bloggers are in your field of interest and then  follow them – hopefully they'll follow you back, thus helping to build your community.
• Hashtags can be used to help you find other interesting twitter feeds.

Facebook
• Facebook is particularly useful for customer communication, brand exposure and to drive traffic to a website.
• It is outstanding in terms of engaging people who like a brand, want to share their opinions and participate in giveaways and contests.
• A Facebook page should be kept updated to always look relevant.

Instagram 
• Useful picture sharing application .
• You can take a picture and instantly post it to twitter and Facebook  saving time.
• It lets users follow and like brands, therefore building your community.

Pinterest 
• This virtual scrapbook site is very relevant for fashion brands.
• Many brands are finding posting products on to boards translates in to sales
• It’s useful  for designers to create their own moodboards.
• It’s super quick to set up and update, so very user friendly.

Google+ 
• Google+ may not be very exciting and not much seems to be going on, however it is an important technical tool, as will be soon be the  only way to move up Google search rankings.

Lois Waller’s tips:-

1. Get on twitter - if you’re not on it set up an account immediately!
2. Harass friends/family to like your page – this helps spread the word and move you up the search rankings.
3. When you start you have to be proactive and approach magazine press, bloggers, stylist and PR’s to promote your brand and  build your community of followers 
4. Use scheduling tools to allow you to write bogs in advance when you have the time, and then post them at a later date.
5. If you want to promote your product, try linking it to something that’s on trend using the relevant hashtag.
6. Network – it’s a small industry so face to face networking is the best way to get known . It’s also a great way of sharing expertise and forging collaborations. Even if you don’t have tickets,  go to London Fashion Week and trade shows to get to know the stylists and bloggers.
7. If you want to approach a lot of bloggers – try following them and asking them to follow back, so you can direct message them.

Harriet Posner’s tips:-

1. Content is key - think about your tone of voice - communicate with and project the values of your brand
2. Remember the 4 Cs of Content
   Create  - create engaging content ( See point 1)
   Context - what is the aim and purpose of the content you are creating?
   Conversation - how will your content support two way communication between you and your audience?  Use social media to listen to the conversation as well as generate content.
   Conversion - What does conversion mean to you for each platform?   Think about meaningful conversion points of different platforms.  Are you trying to get someone to sign up for a newsletter?  Do you want them to enter a competition? Are you wanting them to purchase? Is the aim to get them to like or reTweet?  Is the purpose to get a key influence or blogger to contribute or feature your work?
3. SEO - Make sure you use KEY WORDS wisely.  Think about the page title - put what you do before the brand name.  Don't forget to write Alt Tags on images using key words It helps with SEO and bloggers find your images.
4. Website links should be on key word anchor text, not generic words like ‘more’ or ‘click here’ – eg link black leather jackets to link and not ‘here’
5. People search Google by short phrases or 2 - 3 words.  Check the Google Key words tool - for example more people search for Milliner than Millinery. 
6. Use Lists – if you want to keep an eye on a competitor without the public knowing who you are following you can use secret list.

Social media gives you access to data and a way to reach your target customers and can play an integral  part of your overall marketing/communications strategy but basic marketing principles still apply.

Don't forget, it is a support of and not a substitute, for getting out there and meeting people face to face!

Let us know what works best for you?
By Alison Lewy

Fashion Business Planning for Success.

As the 2013 kicks in, and the A/W 13 selling season is about to start, I though it would be timely if our first blog for the New Year focused on an important business focused New Year resolution.

If you are thinking of starting up a new fashion related business or are running a business without a clear strategy in place, I'd like to suggest your resolution is

‘I'll make a start on my business plan’ 

This topic is something I cover in my book Design Create Sell – a guide to starting and running a successful fashion business, and one of the most requested subjects I am asked to talk about at speaking engagements.

So why do you need a business plan?

Most budding entrepreneurs have heard of a business plan, however many think it’s something you only need if you are approaching banks for a loan or are looking for investment. Whilst this is true, your business plan is also your personal roadmap, as it will be central to your business development; outlining your goals, visions and objectives. As time goes on, you will use it to measure your actual progress against your projections.

‘Failing to plan if planning to fail’

I can’t stress how important it is to have a strategy in place and to start a business plan at the beginning of your business journey. It is essential for any enterprise, but the diversity of product and customers in the fashion industry means to have a chance of success you must be able identify where your product/idea sits within the overall marketplace. A business plan will help you think this through.

If you are a creative person this could take you out of your comfort zone but it doesn't have to be tackled all at once – most plans take a few weeks, or even months, to build. As you go through the process you will undoubtedly come across some problems you hadn't thought of – by planning in advance you have the opportunity to think of solutions.

Much of the information going into the plan will be in your head so it’s a matter of articulating your thoughts and putting them down on paper to start with and as it will take some time to pull together, the sooner you start, the better.

Tips on Writing a Business Plan

Start by dividing your plan into the sections below and try and answer the following points within each section. (There isn't a hard and fast rule as to how long a business plan should be, but you should aim for one to two pages for each section.)
Executive summary

• Although this sits at the beginning of your plan, it’s usually something you do at the end, once the rest of your plan is more or less finished. It should be no longer than  two pages, with just a couple of sentences summarising each section of your plan, as the finer details will be in the main body.

Background

• An overview of the market segment you are moving in to
• The legal status of your business

The Concept

• Describe your business – what are you going to design or make?
• Mission statement – in one or two sentences, state your personal vision for the business.
• Who is your target market? 
• Are you filling a gap in the market, or have you found a solution to a problem?
• What about your designs and/or concept is it different to those already in the market? In other words, what is your Unique Selling Point (USP)?

Sales and Marketing

• What is the size of the market like that you are going in to? Is it a growing market? 
• Who are your competitors? What is your competitive advantage? 
• Have you identified a clear niche?
• Is your brand identity easy to distinguish?
• How will you get wholesale buyers or retail customers to find out about you
• How will you build brand awareness and attract press coverage?

Operations

• What is your background and your role in the business?
• Is there anyone else involved in the business, and if so what are their roles?
• Do you have any other support structures that can help such as a business mentor, accountant, etc.?
• What additional staff or expertise may you need to operate successfully?
• Where will you run your business from?
• Are you going to need to invest in any special equipment?

Production and Sourcing

• How and where will you get your product made?
• Can it be produced at a competitive price point, suitable for your target market?
• Where will you source your raw materials from, e.g. materials, trimmings, fittings?

Finance

• How much money will you need to get started? Think about how much your sample collection will cost to produce, include fixed overheads and ongoing costs. If you’re projecting sales orders at a certain level, how much finance will you need to produce your orders? You will need to include profit and loss projections and a cash flow forecast. 
• Can you obtain this money, either from friends, family, savings, bank, or any other options? 

SWOT Analysis

• This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and is a useful exercise to self-analyse your business.  

The good news is that if you are between 18-30 you may be eligible for a 2.5k loan* and FREE business mentoring with Fashion Angel under the Government’s Start Up Loan scheme. As an official delivery partner we can fast track you on to the programme. To find out more just email info@fashion-angel.co.uk and we’ll send you an info pack and application form.

The key when approaching anyone you want to borrow from is to make sure that your business plan is credible. The financial section is absolutely critical to your plan as it will identify your projections for how the business will grow - in terms of both profits and income - and what financing you will need to make that happen. More information on finance is covered in Chapter 10 of the Design Create Sell book.

Remember - This is not a static document; it needs to be amended as your business develops and changes so worth reviewing at least every three months or so.

You can also get help creating your own business plan by booking a place at our next workshop ‘Fashion Business Planning’ on 22nd January. This practical session will guide you through the business planning process and how to go about the research needed.

One thing I can promise you – once you have a plan in place you’ll  have a great sense of achievement and find it much easier to be focus on your business goals.

Good luck and let me know how you get on!
By Alison Lewy

Follow @FashionAngel1

Pinterest Tips to Promote Fashion Brands

Pinterest, the virtual scrapbooking site, has become one of the fastest growing media platforms around, especially among women. Its visually driven content has led to millions of fashion brands and retailers to use Pinterest to promote their goods as it can prove to be a valuable way to build brand awareness for a fashion label.

I like it because it's also one of the easiest platforms to set up and maintain!

Below are my 5 tips to help you get the most from Pinterest:-

1. Plan a range of boards
First research what your target customer is pinning and other pins, boards and brands that are getting results. Then decide on the themes for your range of pin boards.

Create pin-worthy content. Pinterest is a highly effective tool to share your personality and unique view of the world, all while building a relationship with your existing and potential customers.

Choose great images and videos from your blog - you may - want to consider adding a watermark with your website URL to each of your own images, so that pinners know where it originally came from. Fashion favourites, travel destinations, exhibitions and things that inspire you work well on Pinterest. If you're selling a product then add the price to the pin description. If you want to pin an image from other sources, be sure to ask permission, or make sure the image is royalty free.

It’s good to mix personal content while marketing your business, so try to incorporate your Pinterest content into your blog or website. For example, if you sell jewellery, make your product images as attractive as possible so people will want to buy (and re-pin) them. What you want is for people to find something on your board they emotionally resonate with and repin to their board. This will increase exposure to your board, and ultimately your brand.

Fashion Angel Pinterest Board

2. Start pinning.
In addition to giving your website visitors something pretty to pin, visit other sites and pin, comment and repin their images as you browse online. You don’t want to limit yourself to just pinning your own images, as it will seem too self-promotional and could turn off other users. Plus, the more you can show your audience what a great authority you are in your field, the more you’ll establish yourself in your niche. Tag other pinners by name and say thank you for repins.

Another example: if you’re a footwear designer, you could create boards devoted to historical shoe designs you love, photos of your designs worn by celebrities, images of outfits you think work well with particular shoes, your inspiration behind a forthcoming collection etc.

Being creative and genuine will help build your Pinterest following, which ultimately boosts your business’s potential reach.

Fashion Angel Pinterest Board

3. Get your pins found. 
Consider what content will bring users to your pins and what you want them to take away (repines). Add categories, keywords, hashtags and urls to make your profile and pins SEO-friendly.

Optimize your website for pinning by encouraging your website visitors to pin your content by adding a “pin it” icon to every page of your website. This will let anyone on your site repin any image on your site they might like. Before you do this, you will want to put your website on Pinterest and make sure that the images on your site are “pinnable”. If you’re not sure about this, ask your web designer.

Once you’re up and running, you can then post a “follow on Pinterest” button (available on the Pinterest goodies page) on your blog, email signature, and integrate Pinterest share buttons on your other social media platforms.

4  Host a competition on Pinterest.
Several businesses large and small have hosted “pin-to-win” contests on Pinterest, which can create a tremendous amount of viral excitement around your Pinterest presence. When you get comfortable with Pinterest, you might want to give this strategy a go. Everyone loves free stuff, so the cooler the prizes you offer, the more excited people will be to share with their followers.
I’ll be covering tips on running a successful contest in a future blog.

Fashion Angel Pinterest Board

5: Keep at it. 
As with all social media sites , it require maintenance. If you decide to start a Pinterest board, it’s important that you stay in the game, rather than starting and forgetting your Pinterest account. Dormant Pinterest boards won’t attract new followers. If you download the Pinterest App for mobile/tablet and add the Pin It button to your browser it makes it easy for you to create and add boards wherever you are. You can use the dead time in between meetings or sitting on a train
to browse and add new pins .

If you want to learn more about Pinterest and how social media and blogs in general can help promote your fashion brand, you’ll find our forthcoming Social Media for Fashion Brands talk on 30th January very useful. We’ll be joined by fashion blogger Lois Waller from Bunni Punch and Fashion Communications lecturer Jayne Sheridan.

Tickets are FREE for Fashion Angel Business Club members or £18 for non members. You can book online on the Fashion Angel Events page.

Have you joined Pinterest yet? How do you use it to promote your business?
Please share your tips and experiences with us.

By Alison Lewy

Using Trade Marks To Protect Your Business

Your brand is an important and valuable asset!

This weeks guest blog is by Tahir Basheer, a partner at Sheridans law firm and advises clients in a wide variety of sectors on brand protection. Tahir shares with us his top tips on using trade marks to protect your brand.

'Your brand is the part of your business that communicates to the outside world who you are, the quality of your goods and services, and your company’s image. One way of protecting your brand is through registering it as a trade mark. Trade marks are also a valuable asset for your company.

1. Why register? Registered trade mark protection gives the registered proprietor the exclusive right to use the brand. Furthermore, the trade mark registration is evidence that the registered proprietor is the owner of the brand.  Once registered trade marks last for an initial period of 10 years (for the UK at least).
   
2. Protecting your brand identity It is possible to register most names, slogans and logos as trade marks. The more distinctive the trade mark the more likely it is to be registrable and also the stronger trade mark protection you will have once it is registered.    Therefore, it is important to identify the key aspect of your brand identity and seek to protect it.
   
3. Picking your goods and services of interest Trade Marks are registered in respect of goods and services divided into groups called classes. A carefully and strategically drafted specification will be important for both brand protection and brand exploitation.
   
4. Select your key territories Trade marks are territorial in nature. Therefore, you should apply to register your trade mark in your key territories of interest. This may be where you are currently operating or where you have an interest in expanding in the future. Think about the territories where your manufacture and the territories where you exploit. If you have a number of territories of interest, we can advise on a trade mark filing strategy that will meet your brand protection needs whilst being sensitive to your budget.
   
5. Make your brand work for you Once your trade mark portfolio is in place you can use these assets to work for you. You can licence your trade marks, or enter into franchise deals with, third parties in return for a royalty/receive share. You should note that in some territories, trade mark registrations are required before you can licence, commercially exploit or import goods into that market.
   
6. Trade mark as an asset As well as licensing, trade marks can be bought and sold. A registered trade mark is an identifiable asset which attracts value. Therefore make sure your trade mark and its value are maintained.
   
7. Recognising trade marks as value for money Whilst the application costs are upfront, given that the trade mark protection covers 10 years, spread out over the 10 year period they are good value for money.
   
8. Preserving the value of your brand Once registered it is important to monitor any third party use of an identical or similar brand. Any unauthorised use may infringe your trade mark rights, which in turn affects the value of your company name and the business which the brand attracts. Therefore you should identify a strategy which deals with infringer's in terms of their risk to your brand.
   
9. Important Notice Registering your company name with Companies House provides you some (albeit weak) protection to protect your brand. However, this does not give your business the same protection or benefits as a registered trade mark.
   
10. Other strategies Consider protecting your brand through other means. This includes copyright and also registering domain names for your brand.

We are pleased to offer Fashion Angel Business Club members a 10% discount on our standard fees. For more information, please feel free to contact me on
T: 0207 079 0103, E: tbasheer@sheridans.co.uk.

By Tahir Basheer

Fashion Angel and Poq Studio - Increasing online fashion sales with mobile apps

Last week we hosted another of our vibrant networking talks, this time focusing on how mobile websites and apps are revolutionising online shopping, Smartphones are becoming a force to be reckoned with for the industry, with over  25 % of online searches relating to fashion brands come from a mobile device.

We discovered how easy it is for a fashion brand to now have their own mobile app and make sure they are not being left behind and benefiting from changing buying patterns of consumers.

The evening started off with a short presentation from Michael Langguth, co-founder of mobile app developers Poq Studio. This set the scene and showed us that its isn’t necessary to spend a lot developing your own app – it’s much simpler and more cost effective to use an existing platform.

After the presentation, Sonja Todd from jewellery brand Tatty Devine joined us for the panel discussion. Tatty Devine launched their own mobile app around 10 months ago and have seen their online sales increase as a result.

First we discussed how to decide whether your brand is ready for a mobile app or not. This is fairly simple as Google Analytics allows to see whether traffic to an existing website is coming from. If you see that a lot of traffic is coming via  a smartphone then you can assume that a mobile app will benefit your business as your target audience are engaging with you this way.

One of the key benefits with an app is the ability to use push notifications as a way to drive sales on your app (it’s like text messaging your customers!).

As ever, good product images are essential – its important to have a few shots of each images so the customer can see the product from different angles, and also to have clear descriptions with key measurements.

As you’d expect some brilliant tips came out of the discussion

Sonja’s top tips for improving online sales:

• Use Twitter to woo celebrities – and then make the most of any famous connections 
• Listen to your customers and see what they want
• Use social media to respond– be as quick and as helpful as possible
• Find the channels that work for you and stick to them, but don’t be afraid to experiment
• Clever discounting can work wonders and boost sales 

Keep your product ranges tight – especially if you are a small brand

Michael’s top tips on getting mobile:

• Check your webshop stats to see how much mobile traffic you’re currently getting
• First step is a mobile website which will work on all platforms. Then an iPhone/iPad app is a must for online businesses that want to grow.
• Choose your developer carefully – ask to see their portfolio to check that they’ve made apps before.
• Don’t be scared – mobile is a great opportunity!

For those that were unable to make the event, Michael’s full presentation is below


Interested in getting your own mobile shopping app and website?  If you’re a fashion or design brand thinking about taking the plunge into mobile, we have arranged a special offer for you with Poq Studio.

They are offering an amazing 30% off the set-up cost and first three months of mobile shopping solutions. Click here to take advantage of the offer.

A big thank you to Michael and Sonja for making the evening such as a success.

Our next event The Shoe Lounge is on 5th December and focuses on setting up a successful footwear brand.