Ever thought of starting your own clothes business in India? Now may be the best time to do so, with rapidly growing interest in the fashion industry and a population in dire need of stylish attire. This guide will walk you through all of the steps you need to take to start your own clothing business in India.
We’ll walk you through everything from planning and research to setting up your business and making your very first sales. Let’s get started on this exciting journey to become a clothing entrepreneur!
How to Start a Clothing Business in India: A Step-by-Step Guide
#Step1. Understand the Indian Clothing Market
Before getting into the depth of starting up a business, it becomes imperative to understand the clothing market in India. Here’s what you need to know:
The Big Picture: The Indian clothing market is huge and growing rapidly. More money than ever is being spent on clothes by people. This is because more people have jobs and money to spend, and people are becoming interested in looking stylish.
Different Types of Clothing Businesses:
- Many ways do exist in which a clothing business can be run in India. You can
- Make your clothes after designing them
- Buy clothes from others to sell, known as retailing
- Sell clothes online
- Open a physical store
- Concentrate on traditional Indian wear or modern Western styles
- Make clothes for men, women, children, or all these
Think of what type of clothing business interests you most and suits your skills.
#Step2. Conduct Your Market Research
Now that you know the ropes, it is time to dig deeper. Market research will help you make smart decisions about your business. Here’s how to do it:
- Talk to Potential Customers: Tell your friends, family, and strangers about your clothing likes. What do people like to wear? How much do they spend on clothes? Where do they go shopping? This information will help you understand what people want.
- Watch and Learn: Observe the Trends Visit other boutiques that sell apparel or visit their websites. Browse their collections and their pricing. Think about how your business will be different and maybe better altogether.
- Keep Up with the Fashion Trend: Read magazines and fashion blogs. Keep an eye on social networks with style professionals so you will know what will be hot today and tomorrow.
#Step3. Develop Your Business Plan
A business plan can be considered the map of your clothing business. It helps one to put down their ideas on paper and plan for the future. Describe your business: what your business will do if it will make clothes or sell clothes, and who you want to buy the clothes. Then talk about your products. Identify what type of clothes to sell; for example, those to be worn for casual events or suit occasions. After conducting the research, explain why your business shall perform well.
Relate your business with other cloth-selling businesses, showing how you will differentiate from them. Additionally, strategize on how you would tell people about your store; this could be through social media or putting adverts in local newspapers. Lastly, think about money. Write down how much money you need to start, and how much you think you will make, including details about costs, prices, and how much profit you expect. This plan is going to help you sort out your ideas and give you a push to strengthen your clothing business.
#Step4. Business Structure
When you want to initiate business in India, a few avenues are open for you. The easiest way is what is called a sole proprietorship wherein you run everything. If one works with someone else, then you might opt for a partnership wherein you share the good as well as the bad part of the business.
You may opt for a Limited Liability Company if you want your stuff to stay safe from business problems. Going up the scale, there’s something called a Private Limited Company, which is more involved to establish, but is the most protective and assists in growing your business. This is well worth discussing with an attorney or financial advisor to best choose what’s right for you.
#Step5. Register Your Business
After you have decided on the type of entity, it is time you give it a legal design. First, apply for a PAN Card. This is an identification number that serves as your identity number related to taxes for your business. It will be required by the bank if you try to open a bank account while doing your tax forms. Next, if you feel your annual turnover of the business is expected to cross 40 lakhs in rupees per year, register yourself for GST.
GST is the taxation system most businesses apply. Lastly, check whether you require other special permits. Different places and different kinds of businesses may need extra paperwork. Inquire at your local government office about what else you may need. These steps will help make your business legal and ready for its operation to start.
#Step6. Get Funding
Starting a clothing business requires money. There are various ways of acquiring this money. First, you can use your savings if you have some. This is the easiest way. You can also ask your family or friends if they can lend you money. Just remember to pay them back as if it is a real business transaction. You can also try getting a loan from a bank or any other money-lending place.
They are very much in the habit of giving loans to small businesses, but you would need to present a good plan for them to do so. If your idea is special, then some people might want to give you money for your business. These people are called investors, and they will want something in return for your profits. All of the mentioned ways can help you raise the money required for initiating your clothing business.
#Step7. Configure Your Supply Chain
Think about how you’ll get the clothes in the first place when you want to sell them. That’s called your supply chain. Suppose you are making them yourself; now you’ve got to find places where you can buy fabric and then hire people who know how to sew or establish a small factory.
You’ll also need things like sewing machines. In case you are not manufacturing the clothes but want to sell them, you can always get supplies from other sellers or attend big fashion shows to look for clothes to sell. You could also import clothes from other places that have special designs.
However, no matter the source of the clothes, it is of the essence that they should be of good quality. Always allow an observant eye to pass over every garment before selling, to make sure it is well-made and looks nice, so your customers are always satisfied with what they get from you.
#Step8. Branding
Your brand is what sets your business apart and helps people remember you. First, create a good business name to build a robust brand. Try to use a name that people will remember and that, in turn, lets them know what your business does. Name your business, followed by a simple but catchy logo that would make people recognize your brand at once. Lastly, consider the style you envision for your business.
Do you want to appear modern, outdated, or fancy? Whatever your choice might be, everything about your business must mirror that style. It would also extend to how one communicates with the customers, what your store or website looks and feels like, even down to the packaging of your products. With these steps, you will come up with a remarkable brand that will see your business rise.
#Step9. Setting Up Sales Channels
Now, you have to decide the way of selling your clothes. You have a few options: you can create a website to sell your clothes online. This lets you sell across India. Or use social media like Instagram and Facebook to show and sell your clothes. This is a good way of being in personal touch with the customer. Of course, you can open up a store if you want people to come to an actual shop.
It’s more expensive, but the customer will be able to see and try out the outfits. You can sell your products on big websites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. Such websites already have received a great amount of visitors who come to buy something. You can choose one to sell, or you could use more than one to bring in even more customers. However, the choice is yours regarding what best suits your clothes business.
#10. Price Your Products
Pricing is highly important in ensuring your business does well. First, add up all the money that you spend to manufacture or buy each of the things that you sell. This includes but is not limited to materials, worker salaries, shipping to customers, and other operational expenses for running your business. Then, look at what other stores charge for similar clothes.
You do not have to sell for that price, but at least it helps you to know what people may want to pay for. Then, determine how much more money you want to make on each of the items. The rule is that you need to be able to sell things for at least 30-50% more than they cost you.
The extra money is yours for profit. Think about the different ways you can set prices. Sometimes, you want to put items on sale to attract customers, and then those really special items you will have to charge more for. Keeping all this in mind, you’ll be able to price and help your business make some money while keeping the customers happy.
#Step11. Promote Your Cloth Business
Marketing is an art to let people know about your business. If one is running a cloth business in India, there are ways through which others can be informed about it. Utilize social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where pictures can be shown.
Interaction with people can be done by commenting on remarks or messages. Popular social media individuals could be asked to wear the clothes and then show them to the masses following them. Writing about fashion and your clothes on the website helps people find you online. Going to local markets or fashion shows lets people see and touch your clothes in person.
Last but not least, you can ask customers for their email addresses. Then you will be able to send them messages when you have new clothes or have a sale. All these ways can help more people learn about your clothing business.
#Step12. Provide Good Customer Service
Excellent customer service will set your store apart. Here’s how: First, answer customers’ questions promptly, however, they contact you. Second, make returns, if necessary, painless. State your return policy loudly and clearly, then process returns nicely. Third, ask customers what they think about your clothes and service.
Take their suggestions to improve yours. Finally, do more than what others would expect from you. You can offer free alterations to clothes, help your customers choose an outfit, or do other special services. Such acts will comfort the customers and eventually make them come back for more.
#Step13. Manage Your Finances
Once more, this is very important for your money to be well taken care of for your business to go great. Write down all money received and spent. This will help you later on when having to pay taxes or when you need to make some choices about the future of your business.
Then, a special bank account is required for the money of your business to be exclusively used for that, not combined with your funds. It will be easier that way. You can also resort to computer software such as Tally or QuickBooks that will help you in maintaining your money. These make everything so easy.
Lastly, remember to save some money for taxes. Make sure you know how you’ll pay them when it’s time. This way, you will keep better track of your business money and stand a very good chance of succeeding.
#Step14. Grow Your Business
Now, let’s decide how to make your cloth-selling business big. You may sell more variety of clothes or also sell stuff that goes with clothes, like bags or accessories, to give choices to the customers. You can open more stores in various other places if you already have a store. You can also franchise your business, letting other people open stores with your name and working style.
This can eventually help your brand grow more. You could also try selling your clothes to people from other countries. Last but not least, collaborating with other brands might be a great opportunity to take new customers and make something interesting together. These ideas will help your business grow and make many more people aware of what you sell.
To sum up
It is indeed an exciting journey to start a clothing business in India. It’s hard, of course, creative, and needs a lot of patience, but it could be really rewarding at the end of the day. There is a need to start with thorough research and planning to put up a strong brand while focusing on the products and services.
Keep learning and evolving while making your brand stronger than ever. With dedication and the right approach, you can come up with a successful clothing business in India—it’s not flourishing in the fashion markets.
Because, after all, they say that every successful business starts with a single step. So take your first step today and get started on your adventure into the dazzling world of fashion entrepreneurship!
FAQs
1. How much money is needed to start a clothing business in India?
You can start small about ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh. For a bigger store or online business, you may need ₹5 lakhs or more.
2. Do I need special training to start an apparel business?
It won’t hurt to learn about fashion, business basics, and marketing. You can take online courses or you can read books to learn those things.
3. How long does it take to make money in a clothing business?
It varies. Some businesses get money within 6-12 months. Others take 1-2 years. All of this depends on your products, how you market, and how you run things.
