Here at the Assembly we work with our community members to ensure they’re on the right path when developing their creative enterprises. Whether it’s referring them to an upcoming masterclass or workshop, working with them through individual sessions at our space or through our training programmes we ensure that they understand that running a creative enterprise is equal parts creative and equal parts enterprise.
From our experience we’ve itemised a few elements that would be helpful to consider when starting up your Fashion brand especially if you’re looking to secure external funding.
A Sustainable Business ModelÂ
All successful businesses are built around models that ensure one thing – You’re making more money than you’re spending. A sustainable business is a profitable business and vice versa. Evaluate your processes, cut unnecessary expenses, experiment and identify other revenue generating possibilities within the framework.
A Strong Value PropositionÂ
What makes you a better option than the competition? What promise are you delivering to your customer every time they make a purchase? You’ll need to answer these key questions to develop your value proposition. Fashion brands with clear and effective value propositions find it easier to retain customers, because these customers know why they keep coming back.
An Opportunity to Scale
Most investors are looking at the opportunity for your brand to grow exponentially in the market. That growth potential is termed as your “ability to scale”. From Venture Capital Firms to individuals, investors are looking for opportunities to inject their money into for a big return. The more likely your Fashion brand will grow at a rapid rate the more likely you are to get the financial support you need.
A Competent Leader/TeamÂ
You could have all the resources in the world, but without a competent team (which can be undone by an incompetent leader) and a competent leader (which can be undone by an incompetent team) investors will shy away from putting forth capital in the business. It may take a while to secure either, but once in place the going gets easier.
Building a profitable Fashion brand that attracts investors is no easy task, but the points above will definitely start you on the right path.
As a member of our community of creatives feel free to reach out to the Community Manager at deji@theassemblyhub.com. He’ll be on hand to chat with you on how The Assembly Hub can help you tap into various resources online and offline to get your business from where it is to where it needs to be.
Images courtesy Onafuwa PhotographyÂ
