In this business plan I will describe my product, my business goals, and how I will get my product out into the world. Do you like sweaters? I know I do.
That’s why I’m creating my own line. My line is called Atlantic Vogue. I chose Atlantic because, my whole life, I’ve only ever seen the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the only ocean that I’ve ever created memories in. It’s very special to me. I also chose Vogue because whenever I think of vogue I immediately think of fashion.
When making a fashion company, you want people to know it’s a fashion company without having to look it up online. The goals for this fashion line are to (1) create a successful brand, (2) get my product stocked in Target, and (3) create a household name. (1) Obviously when starting a business you want it to be successful, so that goal is pretty self explanatory. (2) I would like for my clothing to be sold in Target because that’s one of my favorite stores. I, personally, do buy some of my clothes there. Also, I just think it would be really cool to see my own brand there for sale while I shop. But, what would be stocked is my already designed sweaters.
To custom design your own sweater you would have to go on my website. And last, but not least, (3) creating product worth having. This goal ties in with goal number one (create a successful brand). I want my brand to be so successful that it’s something that everybody has. If you go into someone’s one home (specifically a home with a teen/adult female) there is a 90% percent chance that they will have an item of clothing by Atlantic Vogue. For this brand I have one purpose. To make everybody happy.
Whether it’s making myself happy by being an independent business woman, or making other people happy by giving them a job or selling them my product. Now, when I do sell my product, my ideal selling audience is to teenage or adult females. An age range of around thirteen to somewhere in the late twenties, give or take a couple years. When creating a business, the consumers are a very important part. They basically make or break your career. For my audience I chose teenage or adult females (as written in the paragraph above). I chose females as an audience (1) because I know what females are looking for in fashion (since I am also a female) and (2) because the female market is a huge industry. Just think of how many products are specifically targeted towards women.
Now getting into detail. Why did I choose an age range from about thirteen to somewhere in the late twenties? I chose that range because I feel like this is the time when ladies really care about their sense of fashion. They’re trying to look cute and stylish, and with my product they can be cute, stylish, and comfortable! Of course my product can be sold to all ages, but thirteen to late twenties is my main range.
Why would these ladies want to but my sweaters specifically? That’s because A.V. (Atlantic Vogue) Sweaters can be made to suit your personal taste. You can design the sweater yourself, let us design it for you, or choose from our wide selection of already designed sweaters! You can also leave us special notes to help us create the sweater of your dreams. Let’s say the sweater you’re looking at is plain white with silver polka dots, but you don’t necessarily like silver that much.
That’s okay! Just let us know in the note section, while going through checkout, which color you prefer in the place of silver. Also, you can tell us if you’re allergic to a certain type of fabric. That way you can be looking forward to a sweater that you can actually wear and enjoy! Now, what about my competition? One competitor I have is Tipsy Elves in San Diego, California. They specialize in mainly Christmas sweaters. These sweaters range from about thirty to fifty dollars. A big strength for this company is that they were featured on Shark Tank. This will certainly draw more customers.
But, a big weakness, as I said before, is that they mainly sell Christmas products. Another competitor I have is Slum Love Sweater Company. I’m not quite sure where their company is based, but I do know that their products are made in Nairobi, Kenya.
They create sweaters for both men and women, along with some other accessories such as scarves and beanies. All of their sweaters range from about eighty-five to one hundred thirty dollars. The thing about this business is that their products are very expensive, but a portion of every sale is donated to a non-profit that provides high school scholarships to children living in one of the world’s largest slums.
What makes my company different from my competitors? My product is not at all that expensive (if anything it’s on the cheaper side). Also, we give you a very wide variety of design options. We sell customizable sweaters along with classic, already designed sweaters. In order to create these designs, we have our “Internet Team” looking for the next big trends. They then take their findings and send them to the factory to produce your sweater! So, as you can see, my company is one of a kind! My product is great, but how am I going to get the word out? Since today’s generation lives mostly on the internet, that would be a great place to get the word out! My company can create social media accounts and our own website.
The social media programs that we would use include Instagram, Foursquare, and LinkedIn. Another way of marketing that I’m interested in is by handing out business cards. I could go to a festival, carnival, or convention of some sort and hand out business cards to those that pass by (or I could just go to a heavily populated/very busy area). Along with the business card, I could attach a coupon. A coupon would make the potential customer interested, or at least make them want to keep the business card.
People always act fast when they think they’re getting a good deal. The price to create social media accounts is free. The cost to get a website up and running costs approximately five thousand to eleven thousand dollars. I don’t know if I would want to spend that much on a site. Even on the low end it’s still a lot. Let’s say I do spend money on a website, then I would only have forty thousand to fifty thousand dollars left.
Even though it’s a lot of money, I think it’s one of those things that I have to do. Forty to fifty thousand dollars should be enough to get my business started, and start bringing in the revenue. Now, but not least, are my business cards. To produce two hundred fifty cards would only cost about twenty eight dollars. To produce five hundred cards would only cost around thirty three dollars. In conclusion, starting a business is a lot of hard work and money.
Going into this, I expected it to be a little easier. First, you have to create a product that you and everybody else would love. Second, you have to think about what makes your company different from the hundreds of companies already out there. You really have to get into the nitty-gritty. Next, you have to think of what you can do with the money you have. What are my priorities for this company? The first things you spend your budget on have to be the most important.
I would say to make a list. Write down everything you need to get done. Then re-write that list, putting the main priorities at top. The fourth and final step is to be passionate about what you’re doing. The only way to succeed is to really believe in your product.
You have to want to keep going. What I’ll really take away from this experience is that nothing good comes without a lot of hard work. This is a lesson that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
