The truth is, there really isn’t any mystery to raising money for your fashion business.
Your options fall into just a few categories: using your own money, getting people you know to lend you money, or leveraging your network to raise money. Sounds basic, I know. What’s important is understanding what goes into each of these avenues so that you can make the right decision for you and your business.
Before I talk about the ways you can find money, I’d like to address one way that really isn’t a viable option for most fashion companies, as much as I know many of you wish was. And that option is finding investors you don’t know.
I know, you don’t want to hear it, but I’ve got to be honest. Finding an investor for a fashion line that has no tech component and no reason to believe will be profitable in the multi millions, is close to impossible. And the more time you waste half-assedly (a word, I swear) asking “How do I find an investor?”, the longer it will be before you have the business you’re dreaming about.
Nope, in order to fund your business, you need to be proactive and realistic.
If there’s one thing I know about raising money for your fashion brand, is that serious planning is an absolute must. So let’s break down the 3 options for raising money for your fashion brand.
Friends + Family
If you are in the fortunate position to have friends and/or family who can lend you money to launch or grow your dream, then you owe it to them to be as professional as possible. That means, don’t just ask for money, create a plan.
Show them that you are serious about your business, have spent the time and energy creating a solid plan, and that you truly believe in the the ability for this to work, and why.
Include:
* Financial projections
* Product specs and detailed info
* Customer profile
* Your “why” and your brand identity
* Case study of a similar success story and how you will be different
Get a Job
Well, working and saving your own money to self-fund your goal is a realistic option. This is how I, and a lot of other successful entrepreneurs I know, funded my business. The downside is that it takes time. And not everyone has the patience to self-fund. But if you do, there are some things you can do to avoid the feeling of being stagnant and increase the feeling of moving forward towards your goals.
They include:
* Create milestones + goals– What is your time line for leaving your job? What components of your business will be complete by when? How much money do you need by when? Get detailed on creating timeline, it really does help.
* Create a budget– So important! You need to understand how much money you will invest in your business each month and what that money will be used for.
* Create a business bank account– Create an LLC and open a business bank account in order separate your business and personal funds. It keeps things clear and makes it easier to make business decisions and plan expenses. It also helps to make it feel more real.
The Crowdfunding Factory
Shannon Lohr, the founder of Factory45, just launched The Crowdfunding Factory, for a short time, and I truly believe this is one of the best possible ways you can raise money for your business. Shannon’s track record for helping fashion brands raise thousands of dollars to launch or grow, is crazy impressive.
So what goes into crowdfunding? A lot. A few things that I’ve learned from Shannon are:
* Creating a solid plan that starts 3 to 6 months out
* Getting clear on your customer
* Getting clear on your message
* Spreadsheets, spreadsheets, spreadsheets
* Email list building
But to be completely honest, it’s so much more than that. What Shannon’s guidance offers, is detailed instructions that make sure you are successful.
The Crowdfunding Factory offers five hours of self-paced video training, 14 PDF templates, checklists and action steps to keep you moving forward, 6 interviews with past Kickstarter creators and a 100% success rate guarantee.
If you’re interested, here are a few more details:
* Enrollment is open for one week. Open from Wednesday, 2/8/2017 until Wednesday, 2/15/17 at 11:59pm ET.
* The program is open to everyone, including international entrepreneurs.
* You will benefit from the program if you are someone who wants to raise money to fund your clothing brand or apparel product with a Kickstarter campaign. You can be at any stage of business.
By startupfashion.com
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