Costs to consider when starting a fashion business

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. 

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