[Tomato]

Hi,

I am an absolute newbie at business and stuff. Anyways, here goes...

I love fashion and designing fashion, I have my degree and la-dee-dah yay for me. But where do I go now? Should I approach a clothing company (perhaps a chain brand?) and tell them I am interested in designing for them? The thing is, it's always been my dream to open a small boutique in covent garden and sell my own designs, all hand-made, instead of designing for a large company.
I would prefer to open a boutique, what kind of licenses would I need for that?
I must apologise for my stupidity right now, it's late, and I've had a few bloody mary's (LOL) (hense my log-in name: Tomato)

[blankstyle]

I just opened a clothing store in Southern California. It is actually a LOT harder than you might think. I'm not sure how it is in England, but in America the licensing requirements are fairly simple. You need a reseller’s permit and a business license. Both of which require filling out a couple basic forms and waiting a couple of weeks. The following to do items take a bit more effort.

1. Setting up a sole proprietorship, LLC, or S Corp in order to protect your personal assets should your retail store get sued for whatever reason.

2. Finding the right space that is an area with a fair amount of foot traffic.

3. Negotiating your commercial lease so that you're not stuck into a 5 year commitment.

4. Raising at least $50,000 in capital so you can remodel and stock your store.

5. Getting the proper building and electrical permits signed off so you can actually have the power turned on. That's right you can't have power until everything is signed off by the city. By the way, make sure at least one of your dressing rooms is handicap friendly. Otherwise you will not be able to open your doors until one is. I learned this lesson the hard way

6. Finding the right employees to help you fill in the hours you can't be there. No matter how dedicated you are, you will need to get away from your store at least two days a week.

7. Make sure you have the blessing of your planned suppliers before embarking on this retail journey. I had no idea that most of the more popular jean companies will not sell wholesale to your store unless you already have some brand name jeans suppliers on board. This catch 22 absolutely baffles me, but I digress.

8. Budgeting is very. You will not believe the cost of you electricity or how quickly your payroll adds up.

9. Developing and implementing an effective, on going marketing campaign. Build and they will come does not apply to no name clothing stores. You are going to have to slowly build a brand in your community. Taking out a one page ad in the local newspaper will be a huge waste of money unless you advertise giving away your product. You need to be VERY creative (think event marketing) and extremely patient. Unless you're opening your store in a mall, foot traffic will be limited and you'll have to rely on word of mouth.

Anyways, I went a little crazy on this post but I absolutely love my brand new store and I want others to experience this feeling as well.

Good Luck !

[tiffany]

Blankstyle... as hard as it as might be to open a store you made it seem very simple and do-able for the next person... by outlining some very vital points!! Thanks for the post.
I have decided to branch off of one of my marketing firms to start a clothing store. I wanted to do it this way b/c my marketing/consulting firm is already established and this would help with the incorporation age. THe marketing firm would serve as a parent firm when applying for credit since I already have a great deal of trades under the parent co.
I have decided on the location (lease available and a very hot spot), the style of clothes (I know...this one gets me too), oh yeah I am located in ATL, and I have already started talking to my bank officer about the store for possible financing avenues. If you have any other pointers as far as getting the hottest clothes in a store and working with mfgs. Also any other pointers of do's and don'ts would be great.
Thanks!!

[felixthecat]

thanks for the info.
Could you tell a little bit more about how suppliers/brands work? How do you get in contact with a brand name clothing supplier? Is there a minimum amount that suppliers usually make you buy? Do you need your reseller license before you contact these clothing companies?

Thank You to anyone that can help answer these questions. Its so hard to find real info like this online without going into hundreds of pages of scams and fakes.