I know I said I was only covering 2 ways of handling production but I wanted to throw in a BONUS POST for those of you who are ready to move on to wholesaling or are ready to produce up front so your items are ready to ship. If you aren't quite ready to front the expense don't worry. I have already written posts in this series to help you out. Links are at the bottom of this post.
I want to start with a warning. Before you order a bunch of fabric and pay to produce up front you need to do your homework and have a network of people to sell to. Whether it's your own money you are spending to produce up front, or an investors, you don't want to waste it. While there is the risk of financial loss with producing up front there is also a lot to gain. Customers love instant gratification so ready to ship product will usually create more orders for you.
So that you can be sure you are ready to produce up front with minimal financial risk I want to give you a list of things you must have before you decide to produce up front:
1. An audience to sell to. Do you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Etsy Shop followers, and an email mailing list of qualified customers to promote your product to?
2. A history of sales to help you determine what to produce. Do you know what sizes sell best so you can create a production run that will sell and leave you with little overstock?
3. An overstock plan. Do you have an outlet to unload overstock? This could be a discount site or an affiliate business willing to promote a sale for you.
4. Pricing knowledge. Do you know how to properly price your product so that you don't take a loss when you have to run a sale?
If you have these 4 things under control good for you! Push forward with production upfront! This is a major step in getting ready to wholesale! With wholesale you will have to produce up front before you get paid so starting with a retail run where you front the production is a great start to getting used to the financial process of running a wholesale fashion business.
I want to start with a warning. Before you order a bunch of fabric and pay to produce up front you need to do your homework and have a network of people to sell to. Whether it's your own money you are spending to produce up front, or an investors, you don't want to waste it. While there is the risk of financial loss with producing up front there is also a lot to gain. Customers love instant gratification so ready to ship product will usually create more orders for you.
So that you can be sure you are ready to produce up front with minimal financial risk I want to give you a list of things you must have before you decide to produce up front:
1. An audience to sell to. Do you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Etsy Shop followers, and an email mailing list of qualified customers to promote your product to?
2. A history of sales to help you determine what to produce. Do you know what sizes sell best so you can create a production run that will sell and leave you with little overstock?
3. An overstock plan. Do you have an outlet to unload overstock? This could be a discount site or an affiliate business willing to promote a sale for you.
4. Pricing knowledge. Do you know how to properly price your product so that you don't take a loss when you have to run a sale?
If you have these 4 things under control good for you! Push forward with production upfront! This is a major step in getting ready to wholesale! With wholesale you will have to produce up front before you get paid so starting with a retail run where you front the production is a great start to getting used to the financial process of running a wholesale fashion business.