Where are the investors?

[Ergo1]

Note: The bold areas provide a summary, but please read the entire post if you are interested in this opportunity.

When I first began frequenting YE two months ago I posted an investment opportunity for Ergo Tedium (an open source apparel company which I founded December of last year, see link in signature).

There was not much response at the time, but since then many more members have signed up, especially those interested in the apparel industry. Our needs have also changed. We are closing in on a marketing/web-design partnership with a firm that has a track record for making socially constructed websites successful. This has decreased the amount of funding we are looking for to $90,000-$100,000.

Here is some additional background on the company.

The company satisfies a unique niche market which is currently under-saturated and promises explosive growth as has already been seen by our few direct competitors.

Our marketing strategy and brand are clearly differentiated from our competition and has been received very well by our customers thus far.

We have a full business plan developed as well as key financial assumptions and expectations for the next five years.

We have now finished 6 months of beta stage production sales upon which we have been able to update our financial projections and feasibility studies. Incorporating this information has actually exceeded our original estimations.

What we are looking for:

We have a very dynamic and productive core management team that has the right skill set and drive to make this company a success. It would be great to pair this asset with a handful of industry veterans interested in giving legal and financial insight as well as discussing general business matters.

Our five year outlook shows that we need to raise between $90,000 and $100,000 in order to reach our potential in the market. We would like this money to come from the same individuals that are interested in giving us guidance if possible. However, we will consider investments as low as $5000 for individuals looking for only equity in the company.

We would also very much prefer to do business with local investors from the United States, as again, we would like to turn to them for guidance periodically.

If you are a potential investor and would like to know more please feel free to post you interest in this thread and I will PM you directly. I would especially like to invite other entrepreneurs looking to emerge into the apparel industry to contact me for more details. I have helped answer many of your questions and am slowly realizing it may be more beneficial for all of us if we combine our collective intelligence.

PsiPro: I'd like to see your form review

[Ergo1]

I at least want some feedback on this, but I'll be patient. I know there are a lot of people on here trying to get into this industry.

[Angelfood]

Excellent question.

[BentheCEO]

I may be able to hook you up with a loan investor IF you have a good business plan or investor packet together.

Message me if you do...

-Ben Weissenstein

[Ergo1]

You have been messaged.

[Ergo1]

Bump. Still looking for a PsiPro form review, or any other feedback. $5000 more was secured yesterday so that leaves $85,000-$95,000.

[PsiPro]

Still looking for a PsiPro form review

When you posted the thread the content looked good so I just moved on as I don't have $5000 to invest (or a fashion sense ).

Your post looks good, it conveys you are serious and have done your work. It seems to use just the right number of buzz words to keep me interested but not to make it seem like your trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

Although I can see from your profile your in San Diego, CA I would put that in your post when you are talking about local investors. I would want to meet you to discuss your business plan etc. Especially since you commented on a ~$100k need for the next 5 years for growth. I would want to know what your growth goals and plans are, or at least the basics.

I would also make more details available most notably your business plan.

As an investor my first concern would be the amount your asking for. Your asking for money to meet your short/medium term goals, which shows you have a plan. However at ~$20k/year is a relatively small investment in a company. I think you should be prepared to answer the question of approximately how much will this buy me in?

I have no idea how much response people actually get from this forum seems like quick web scams do well and serious bushiness propositions do have a harder time (but that's to be expected) .... but your proposal looks good and your not making outrageous claims promising 40% returns. Good job and good luck.

[Ergo1]

Thank you, that was a very helpful review.

To answer one of your inquiries, the funding we are looking for would grant 10% equity in the company and a BOD position. This figure was derived to represent a 1400% ROI over 5 years as has been realized by the growth of our main competitors.

This is not an outlandish claim (all of this research is detailed in the business plan), but does reflect the lucrative nature of our under-saturated niche. Unfortunately I will not be hosting our business plan to the public but will share it with serious investors.

I may consider answering specific questions about the business plan though.

[unlimited22]

I would suggest you have a daily blog of your progress and post an article or respond to forums in the textiles and/or fashion industry. Also frequent places often visited by New York, LA , Miami fashionistas (i.e. Fashion Shows or designer sites etc). There are many socialites looking fo the next great whatever in the Fashion Apparel Industry. Good luck.

[Ergo1]

Funny that you bring that up as we were just talking about this subject yesterday. We will be expanding the scope of our blog shortly to include articles not only specific to our company but also to our industry and anything that would be of interest to our designers.

I was not fully aware that there was an existing desire in the industry for these kinds of articles so thank you for the tip. We may be able to increase our influence and broaden our opportunities through these means.

[typesh05]

Ergo...

One question--you say this market of apparel is under saturated. From looking at your website, I must say that I DO like the designs of the shirts, but how are they any different from the other million t-shirt companies out there?

[europeguy77]

It might not be polite for me to just give my opinion but this is a forum and i ll just give it a shot.
You've got over 40 pages of designs. Hundreds and hundreds of shirts and designs. some might be creative but there is no clear structured collection to be found. it is just a vast amount of designs.
the apparel industry, specially the trend sector where you clearly belong to, works in cycles. 2 collections or 4 collections per year.
ok successful brands liky Zara and the likes have more collections per year, but they still have ONE MAIN CONCEPT per collection.
this is what i would suggest to you to watch for and maybe attack.
it is not the mass of designs it is the thought behind a collection and the transformation of a concept into a collection of deisngs that brings success.
i m not trying to be a smartass just wanted to drop my input.

[WealthNet]

Good pitch and whether you make a presentation like this here or anywhere else, including a pitch in person to angel investors, it will still be a numbers game and very few investors of the many you pitch are willing, ready and able to write a check no matter how good your story and model is. What are your use of proceeds? Do you have a private placement memorandum that details all the fun legal stuff to protect YOU more than investors? Too often I see people raising money with a business plan. Just some food for thought. I am not able to fund any new deals right now nor typically able to help fund start ups. Turn around companies are a different story.

[Ergo1]

Ergo...

One question--you say this market of apparel is under saturated. From looking at your website, I must say that I DO like the designs of the shirts, but how are they any different from the other million t-shirt companies out there?

While we believe our niche market is undersaturated, the apparel industry as a whole is a completely different story. What makes Ergo Tedium different, at this point at least, is not necessarily the designs, but our niche marketplace. We are offering an open source apparel line which is both advantageous to the casual designer, as well as our customers.

The casual designer will be given the opportunity to showcase his designs on the Ergo Tedium apparel line with very little effort (outside of creating the submitted artwork). They will also be compensated generously for the sales of their designs.

Ergo Tedium customers will have the opportunity of shopping among an ever increasing network of original and inspired designs, from thousands of artists around the world.

The emotional appeal is also significant, as our customers will have a direct line of contact with their favorite designers, being able to leave them feedback and even design requests. This makes an Ergo Tedium purchase much more than simply buying a piece of clothing (like from the millions of other t-shirt companies you mentioned). Each t-shirt has its own story, and each designer has theirs.

[Ergo1]

It might not be polite for me to just give my opinion but this is a forum and i ll just give it a shot.
You've got over 40 pages of designs. Hundreds and hundreds of shirts and designs. some might be creative but there is no clear structured collection to be found. it is just a vast amount of designs.
the apparel industry, specially the trend sector where you clearly belong to, works in cycles. 2 collections or 4 collections per year.
ok successful brands liky Zara and the likes have more collections per year, but they still have ONE MAIN CONCEPT per collection.
this is what i would suggest to you to watch for and maybe attack.
it is not the mass of designs it is the thought behind a collection and the transformation of a concept into a collection of deisngs that brings success.
i m not trying to be a smartass just wanted to drop my input.

First, please do not hesitate to give your opinion. It is important to our progress and is very relevant in this forum.

You give good points which definitely reflect the mainstream views in our industry. To submit to only selecting a collection of designs however, does not coincide with the open source nature of our apparel line (which is admittedly not so mainstream, but allows us to be a key player in our growing niche).

We do have plans for guiding our artists in submitting specific "collections" (several holiday themes come to mind), and may give increased commission and dedicated product placement as incentives. However, we find it very important to maintain a sense of freedom for our designers. We do not wish to hinder creativity at any stage of development.

In stead of focusing on seasonal collections, our main focus will be on optimizing customer navigation so that they can follow specific artists and similar designs that spark their interest without filtering through hundreds of designs they may not be interested in. We feel this greatly increases the reach of our potential target market.