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Studies show that successful people have reading as a common denominator. There are endless examples of people that have created well-known businesses, who read daily to gain knowledge. Knowledge builds up like compound interest and there is no upper limit. We love reading and we have put together a list of books for you that can do wonders for your personal development and your apparel brand. These books are must reads!

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Selling online is becoming increasingly popular. Over 50 % of global internet users have made an online purchase. That is around 1 billion users. Data shows that worldwide ecommerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion in 2021. Read this before starting your online shop.

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When you are designing your collection, you need to assign style numbers to each design. The style numbers will help you to better communicate with your retailers, agents, distributors, suppliers, pattern makers, and everyone else you are working with. Here is a style number system for you to use.

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Do you want to start a sportswear brand? Do you have some great design ideas or a cool new apparel concept? Can’t you find the styles you are looking for? The time could be now for you to start up that brand you have been thinking of. But where do you start? How do you go about to make it all happen?

If you want to set up your own sportswear brand, then this article is for you. This is the complete guide!

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Source material, create patterns, order fabric, create prototypes… There are a few things to manage when making your garments. Use this manufacturing checklist to stay on track with your product development without losing yourself in the process.

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We have been entrepreneurs for around 10 years now. On and off we have taken on traditional employments, but every time we have been drawn back to the freedom of entrepreneurship. Once you get the taste of it, it is really tough to do anything else. So what’s so appealing about running your own business? For us, these are the main reasons you would like to be your own boss.

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Early on in your business you need to work on your brand identity. You need to think about the meaning of your brand to your customers. Encapsulate that meaning in your brand name. In this article we take a closer look at picking your brand name.

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You know which garments your collection is based on, you know the price for fabrics, trims, and production including prototypes. With this new information that you didn’t possess when you started out, you can remake a more accurate budget. When making the business plan you thought of the price level you wanted to place your clothing brand at. So let’s see if that is realistic.

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Are you about to start an apparel brand? Where do you start? What do you do? What’s the process? These questions and more are addressed in the webinar How To Start & Run An Apparel Brand. Watch it for free at ISPO Academy.

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We are launching our mastermind groups for apparel entrepreneurs 2018. Are you ready to take your business and entrepreneurship to the next level? We are hosting live interactive video calls, designed to move your ideas into action, to raise your game in business and life. Secure your spot, only 5-8 spots available for the first Mastermind round. You must apply before January 26.

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Meet us at ISPO Munich 2018. Attend our workshop, visit our panel at the CSR hub, arrange a personal meeting or watch our webinar at ISPO Academy.

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In this Sportswear Inc. article about how to build an online shop you will learn how to create a cost-efficient e-com store for your apparel brand. There is no need to pay large sums for design and development of your site. Set up your e-commerce in no time with an existing, well established open source systems.

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There are many roles that need to be filled in your business. As a small sportswear brand you can and probably will take on several of them. But ask yourself which roles you actually can fill and which ones you need to outsource. So what are the typical roles you need to fill? Here they are, your dream team.

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A very important part of the product development is the product branding. How and where do you want your customers to see the brand identity? This is what you need for your garment!

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28th to 31st of January 2018, the world’s largest sports trade show for the sports industry takes place in Munich. We can recommend you to visit this yearly event in Germany for 6 different reasons.

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As an apparel entrepreneur you need to be on top of your financials and already from the start keep track of your costs. For you to get the overall economic picture of your business you need to know the cost of producing each garment. To help you keep track of all costs associated with producing each style you use a costing sheet.

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As your business grows and your sales increase, your costs for running your business will also increase. Improving old styles and developing new ones will add costs to your budget. You will most certainly come to a point where the sales revenue isn’t enough to finance the growth of your company. You will need to look at ways of financing your business and cover the costs until you make enough revenue to pay it back. Here we take a look at 5 different options for financing your business.

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Do you want to start an apparel brand? Do you have some great design ideas or a cool new brand concept? Can’t you find the styles you are looking for? The time could be now for you to start that brand you have been thinking of. But where do you start? How do you go about to make it all happen? If you want to set up your own clothing brand, then this article is for you. We’ll give you an overview of the steps involved in starting your own business, and information that you have to think about.

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Before you make money you have to figure out how to spend it. It is a vital part of your business to make a financial roadmap for your company. You need a roadmap to understanding where you are going. By anticipating future spendings and cash flow you’ll improve your changes of succeeding in your venture.

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Business name, domain name, trademark, bank account… There are a few things to set up when you launch your business. Use this start-up checklist to make sure you tick everything off and get started on the right foot.

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11 questions to ask yourself before starting your sportswear brand. Branding is the process of building a product image based on associations, feelings, lifestyle, and identity that is projected by a label. The competition is tough out there. Just look at all the brands that exist on the market.

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Let’s take a look at the different areas where you need to spend your cash. Of course, to give an exact answer, we have to know the specifics for your brand, such as the size and type of your collection, marketing & sales strategy etc. So what we’ll do here is to look at the different areas where you need to spend some money. How much it will cost depends on if you can do it yourself, if you know some friendly soul that can help you to a low cost, or if you have to outsource it.

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New season, new inspiration, and new possibilities. Once you’ve launched your first collection, it is time to start thinking of the upcoming one. With the feedback you have received and with the stats you have collected from the previous collection, you’ve got a good restarting point.

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We accept Bitcoin because we embrace forward-thinking approaches. We like the power of new technology and the questioning of authority. We also like people and businesses that challenge the importance of middlemen, and strive for self-sufficiency.

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While the first collection is out you pretty quickly have to start thinking and sketching on the new one. Before starting all over again it’s vital to pause and reflect. Ask yourself all these questions, and give yourself time to answer them as honestly as you can.

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A Jack Of All Trades is someone who is decent at everything, but not especially adapt at any one thing. However, there are advantages of being in charge of many areas of your business. Here we list 7 positive reasons to be a jack of all trades for your brand.

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A croquis template can be used both in the early design idea stage for quick hand sketches, and when constructing a tech pack.

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We are proud to announce a new partnership with the functional fabric fair PERFORMANCE DAYS. The fair is the world’s first address for innovations, trends, and sourcing of fabrics and accessories in functional sportswear, athleisure, corporatewear, and workwear.

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If your business model includes retail, you will eventually have to present your collection to buyers, for whole sales purposes. The buyers will need all the product information necessary, to place an order.

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At the end of your product development cycle it is finally time to sew and make all the garments in larger quantities. Hopefully you had a great sell in and have written orders and actual production quantities for each and every single style in your collection. Now there are quite a few things to coordinate and you need to start well in advance.

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As with marketing, customer care should be present at all times. You are making a great product to meet a specific customer need. This is why you are in business, if you’re in it for the right reasons. So you better pay attention to your customers before, during, and after they purchase from you.

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The bulk production is ready, your stuff looks amazing, the world is anxiously waiting for your collection and it’s time to ship. First you need to transport the garment from the manufacturer to e.g. your office or warehouse and then to your customers. Take a look at your agreement with the supplier to see what is included in the deal and what you have to sort out yourself.

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It is very common that you have to show your collection a couple of times before buyers place an order. You could have different packages for them, that you have picked out in advance, to best represent your collection. Pick your strongest pieces, to have a good range and diversity of your brand. Now it’s kind of tricky to juggle the orders received on your styles with the minimum quantity orders for materials and factory capacity.

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Once you have your salesman samples and your story ready, it’s time to sell. What we talk about now, are the orders from your customers. Let’s take a look at the most common ways of selling your collection.

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Marketing should be embedded in the whole company, in everybody that works there, in everything they do. Answering emails and answering the phone is marketing, sending packages away is marketing, talking to a customer in the shop is marketing, the pictures on the website are marketing, EVERYTHING a company does is marketing.

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Finally it is time to make the first samples and you will see your ideas materialize into an actual product. This is not the time when you sit back, wait and hope for the best.

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To be honest, it’s really hard to find awesome pattern makers. I have only met a handful in my whole career. This is such a crucial part of your garment/collection, so if you need to spend a lot of money somewhere, it’s here they should go.

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Almost at the same time as conceptualizing the collection, comes the need to think about materials. They need to tell the same story as the concept and the design. They go hand in hand.

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It is vital that you stay focused and narrow down on your core vision of the brand. What do you want your brand and your products to stand for? What is your point of view, your identity, and how does that differentiate from the other designers? When you have that clear, make sure you implement it in every design you do.

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By this point you already have a somewhat clear vision of what the brand should be about and who the ideal customer is. Now you just need to figure out how you are going to do it and the size of it all. If you are the creative type you will probably focus on the product and everything that has to do with it, but of course the other side needs attention too, and that’s the business side.

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You have your idea and you have your motivation going. You have asked yourself all the tough questions and you are convinced this is the best idea since the wheel. Now it is time to figure out how much it will cost you to get started and running this fantastic project.

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I’m not a very big fan of business plans, but before even starting you brand you need to know where your going and what your plan is. The business plan should be fun and a part of the creative process. What you put in it will be your base, that you rely on for the near future.

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You are excited about your idea and you have somewhat figured out what you would like to do. The products you’re thinking about are styles you would wish to wear, but will someone else want your stuff too? Is there a need for you clothing? Is there a gap in the market?

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Starting a sportswear brand requires a lot of hard work, but it will be the best ride you’ve ever had. It’s vital to have a burning interest for what you do, to be able to cope all the way. You will need to keep that strong gut feeling you have about your idea alive, so don’t get pulled down by friends and family members that will try and talk you out of it.

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Download The Business Plan Template for FREE We are happy you are here. You are probably excited about your business idea and now you are ready to answer those tough questions. Go ahead and use the Apparel Entrepreneurship Business Plan Template for FREE. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive free tools, inspiration, guides, and special [...] Continue Reading

Building a collection requires a fine balancing act between designing products that incorporate your values as a company and brand, and actually producing garments that sell.

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One of the most common questions we receive is: How should I price my products? Here we’ll go over three different strategies for pricing your sportswear.

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One of the most common questions we get here at Sportswear Inc is: How do I find a factory? Finding the right manufacturer meeting all your criteria about quality, ethics, and communication is a crucial part of having a successful sportswear business. Can they make the products you have designed, on time, at the right price, and in the right way?

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In our previous post we explained step by step, how to go about fitting a garment, what to think about in the process and the tools needed. In the fit session you look at the fit, movement and volume of the garment, and now you need to zoom in on all the details, making and workmanship. We’re talking about commenting your garment.

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You successfully passed the design process, found a good factory, sent them all the information needed to start the product development, and now you are waiting for the first protos. There has been enormous amount of thought process and work to get all the information to the factory. Now the product needs to both look good, feel good and do what you intended it to do.

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