Information is abundant online and available to any budding fashion start-up, via search engines, YouTube, social media, and websites from industry experts like myself etc, which sounds like a fantastic resource, doesn’t it?
But is this actually helping you launch your clothing line or is it overwhelming you to the point of paralysis?
In theory, access to all of this information should be like gold dust given that within seconds, information is available at our fingertips on any search you conduct online. You should become proficient in your chosen areas or find out how to do something you previously struggled with because this wealth of information is so accessible.
Through talking to my clients, and working with so many fashion start-ups over the last decade, my experience is that instead of this information being helpful, it often turns into the exact opposite and suddenly becomes a hindrance.
On client discovery consultations, I find founders like you aren’t approaching me feeling confident about starting up a fashion brand, having gathered this information online. Consuming this information isn't leaving you more empowered, and knowledgeable, or feeling you have it all figured out, rather you're confused, often a little bit worried, very unsure, and generally lost. Are you feeling this way?
So why is having access to this information holding you back? The simple answer is information overload causes overwhelm, which in turn, causes paralysis. When you don't know what you're doing it's hard to understand which parts are right for you and so you're left feeling stuck.
Trying to digest the advice from various sources, you’ll find one expert telling you how to do something one way, and another telling you that’s the route to avoid.
This conflicting information is difficult to decipher and work out which is the correct answer. And that's because it's super generic, so in reality, both are probably true, but they're only true for certain startups and not for everyone. Generic advice is the worst in a lot of ways and a blanket approach really doesn't hep you move forward. Knowing which methods are correct for you and your brand is the key to unlocking what you need to do next.
The second reason this overwhelm occurs, is when you start researching how to start a fashion brand you inevitably come across information for all of the different stages involved, but not necessarily in the right order, and I think that this can be quite damaging to your progress and ability to follow it through.
Here is an example to map out the typical experience I see happen on a day-to-day basis working with clothing brand founders who are exploring setting up a clothing label, and I bet this story sounds familiar to you.
It all starts with an idea, and this stage can feel seriously exciting when you’ve landed on a brilliant business idea. Perhaps you have identified a gap in the market, or maybe you want to introduce something innovative into the marketplace. Maybe you’re eternally searching for something that you can’t find to wear yourself, or you know you could improve on current available options.
As well as having this exciting energy, you also have the matched opposite negative energy, which arises from doubts, risk and, and the realisation you don’t know how to go about any of this.
So you’ll probably spend weeks or months in this stage going back and forth with yourself, wondering whether your idea is viable or if this is something that you can realistically achieve. There will be some days where you feel ultra motivated and then there’ll be other days where you think you're crazy to even entertain this. Additionally, you'll repeatedly park the idea for a few days, weeks or even months but you’ll keep returning to the idea, regretting the break and wish that you’d kept going.
Spoiler alert...this is a really good sign that you want to pursue this as a business idea and a great reflection of your passion to follow it through.
During the magpie stage you realise that to understand the viability of this venture, then you need to start learning what you need to do in more depth. Exploring the stages involved in launching a fashion brand will see you start to set some time aside for research. You’ll find yourself signing up for many things, following an influx of new accounts on social media and stalking various experts online to see what you can glean from them. This is the stage where the overwhelm really starts to kick in.
When gathering this information, you uncover what is involved from all aspects of the journey, from design, getting samples made, finding and working with a factory, designing a website, marketing your brand, and launching and selling the finished products.
At this stage, it's easy to go off on tangents because they either feel like quick wins or another area you don't know much about to add to the expanding to-do list.
You want to take some action, and feel like you are nudging forward in some way, so you start to do things like sign up for a web design account then you realise that you need to investigate e-commerce, or start thinking about marketing, and enrol in a short course around this. You realise you need to think about a brand name and come up with a logo, so you start investigating graphic designers or branding agencies, you then also start thinking about working with factories so you go ahead and start researching where you can get something manufactured.
It’s a classic case of "shiny new object syndrome", where you’re jumping about all over the place without a plan or goal, and it’s very time and energy-intensive. It' also not sustainable.
This is where you feel utterly exhausted from trying to consume all of the information you've gathered and realise that jumping about trying to shuffle every single aspect of what might be involved in launching a fashion brand, is taking up all of your spare time. You can't read all of this info, keep up with the new people that you’re following on social media, open the emails and the downloads in your inbox, playing around with web design and graphics whilst also thinking about your products and make designs for your collection.
It’s too much for anyone to do at once, so you reach burnout and give up. This is really common!
At the hermit stage, you'll take a break from your business venture because it’s just too much and you want to re-evaluate things. This is the most risky stage, because it’s this stage where you either let the overwhelm win and let yourself drown, seeing your brilliant idea float away into the void. Or you decide things need to change for the better. Don't be surprised if this stage lasts for six months!
After your hiatus, you're like a bear coming out of hibernation. You're rested and on the hunt to get started. You’ve let things settle and taken in some of the information but also had a rethink, and it’s at this stage that most founders will come to the realisation that their previously employed scattergun approach doesn't work and has gotten them nowhere.
When you've spent six months, or even a year or two going around in circles in these various stages, dedicating tons of time, but not making any progress, it can feel frustrating.
Now is the time to tame some of the noise that is the excited jumble of ideas in your head, and master the menagerie of tasks on your to-do list, working out only the next few steps. It's a new season and you're ready to take a new aproach.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes you're actually finding your wings at this stage and making progress. Once you have that plan in place and understand the more ordered approach gets you further faster you feel like you're working smarter. Yes, it's still going to require dedication and hard work but instead of generic advice you're finding investing in tailored help is fast tracking your brand. You can cut out a lot of that unnecessary background noise, hit unsubscribe on the emails you're not reading and concentrate on the task in hand for the next few steps.
I show people what those next steps are for them by implementing The Fashion Expert® Plan Create & Launch method, and clients find that this is a much more successful approach which actually gets results.
The method is all about road-mapping and breaking things down into bite-sized chunks that are prioritised so you have a plan of what to focus on. That way you can direct your precious time and energy, and where appropriate your startup capital, to the tasks you need to do next.
Here are my top tips for getting it right...
First of all, understand which methods, tasks and steps are most appropriate for you and what you're trying to achieve. Remember your product or clothing line may require a different route to market than someone you've seen online. It's not a one size fits all. Without this clarity, you'll never get it right.
If you need some help figuring that out, then work with an expert who knows what you don't. I run hour-long sessions and 2-hour deep dives where we can map all this out on a call together. You'll go away with a plan, a to-do list, tons of knowledge and the confidence you understand what to focus on next.
Make a list of all the tasks you think you need to cover in your journey. It's ok if this is a brain dump for now, we will get to the organisation next.
Review this list and organise tasks into short, mid and long-term goals. This will help shift your focus on what needs to be done next, and give you insight into what is ahead. Understanding the order of the whole start-up process means you won't be wasting time on things that don't matter right now, and you're less likely to make costly mistakes.
Check in regularly with these short, mid and long-term lists and refocus or rearrange them when necessary. Just because something is written down doesn't mean it's set in stone.
Be patient and understand you probably won't tick everything off your list in the desired timeframe everytime...and that's OK...it's called life. Just make sure you get back on it when you can.
Make sure you're not falling into the busy fool scenario of working on everything yet achieving nothing. Be a phoenix, not a Magpie!
See you in the front row,
