Costs to consider when starting a fashion business

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Day-to-day expenses

These aren't necessarily things that you pay for often, perhaps even just once a year, but these are items that contribute to the day to day running of your business; 
  • Phone
  • Internet
  • Computer
  • Software (such as Excel, Word, Photoshop, Illustrator), etc. Tip - unless you're experienced with Photoshop + Illustrator I wouldn't buy these - they take years to master + there's a lot of free versions that are simpler to use, especially for photo editing
  • Electricity
  • Car/ fuel/ transport
  • Insurance
  • Accountant
  • Books/ education/ information/ consulting help

Product expenses

These expenses all contribute to the cost price of your garments + include the components you need to make a finished product for sale;
  • Trend reports
  • Visiting events/ trade shows/ seminars/ suppliers
  • Designs 
  • Technical drawings 
  • Tech packs
  • Patterns (you might not need these if you work with a factory, they may include them in the production price)
  • Samples (as with the patterns, these may be included in the production price)
  • Fit model
  • Production cost - labour
  • Fabrics
  • Dying/printing
  • Trims, eg thread, ribbon, elastic, buttons, zips, clasps, etc
  • Labels, eg woven labels, size pips, card labels possibly with ribbon, kimbles or pins, barcodes
  • Hygiene stickers if producing swimwear or lingerie
  • Packaging, including poly bags, garment bags, hangers, shipping boxes
  • Transport from the place of manufacture to you
  • Taxes + customs fees may be applicable if the stock is made in another country
  • Quality control inspections
  • Stock preparation, eg steaming, scanning in, distributing
  • Warehousing if you are using a company to store your stock + send out orders
  

Marketing + Sales expenses

Marketing is one area where you could literally spend limitlessly, but if you're a small business keep in mind that some of the best marketing methods, such as PR (getting featured in magazines/on websites) + social media can be done for free, you just need to put some effort in!
  • Branding design
  • Website
  • Business cards/ flyers/ promotional leaflets
  • Social media scheduler
  • Advertising, such as Facebook, in magazines, on blogs, influencer marketing, etc
  • Photography
  • Model
  • Hair/make up artist
  • Lookbook
  • Events such as press launch, pop-up shop, fashion show
  • Travel to sales meetings
  • Line sheet

As I said, I know this is a long list but please don't feel disheartened, there's a good chance that you don't need all of these things + I'm sure that you can do some of them yourself, without having to hire outside help. 

 You can learn more by clicking here. 
 

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