Not having enough funds to get your fashion start-up off the ground is a common challenge many emerging fashion brands face. There are a variety of ways you can fund your new apparel line including:
Applying for a business loan
Getting money from friends and family who believe in you and want to support your new venture
Crowdfunding through sites like crowdfunder.com and
Saving money while working full-time
Freelancing on the side
Entering an emerging fashion designer contest
Seeking funds from an angel investor or venture capitalist
Applying for a grant
Tapping into your savings
Combination of the above
No matter how you fund your business, you will need to determine not only the amount of money that you will need to launch, but the amount of capital needed to sustain your short-term and long-term growth strategy. This projection should be included in the financial section of your business plan.
The most important thing to remember is that launching an apparel line requires a long-term investment. Do not expect to see a return on your investment right away. Depending on your selling/brand strategy and how well it is executed, it can take anywhere from 1-5+ years to see results.
Each apparel launch is unique and requires a different amount of start-up capital and a different amount of growth funding (to get you through each of the post launch services and beyond, including PR, marketing, social media marketing, brand strategy, etc.). When we become your launch partner we can work with you on budgeting and the best approach to take to fund your line through all of its growth phases.