It’s been said that good managers don’t manage…they MOTIVATE.

Most of us perform a lot better with inspriation, motivation and good will than we do on intimidation and fear.

If you’ve suddenly found yourself managing people in your new business its important to be able to reconcile the personal goals of your employees with the goals of the company.

This may be reflected through a generous bonus structure, subsidized education or opportunties for advancement.

However large or small the gesture, simply showing employees you care can make a big difference in your business. People will work harder, save your company money and produce better results.

The best part about good will is that whatever you do it generally ends up paying for itself.

My advice for pricing is to always start from preceived value.

You have to look at what you’re selling…think about who you’ll hang next to in a store/your competion…and determine the cost that will make sense for your product.

There are definately certain benchmarks in the inudstry such as multiplyinng your cost by 2.2-3.0 to come up with your wholesale price.  However at the end of the day a boutique owner needs to be able to financially justify buying your merchandise.

That said, as it relates to pricing I suggest you do your math backwards and work yourself into an approriate margin.  You may have to finagle your cost a bit by using different materials or suppliers to achieve your ideal margin…but trying to pass this cost off to your customer closely resembles a shot in the foot….

Most new designers are very cognicent about what stores they decide to sell to. At the critical time of an emerging business designers want to make sure that the stores they choose clearly represent the brand they aspire to become.

This in mind you must create a sales strategy to dedicate your limited resources to achieving goals that can be the catalysts to bigger and better things.  Therefore ….you have to prioritize.

In creating a sales strategy I suggest coming up with a Top 10 list of stores you want to associate with your developing brand name.

For example…Fred Segal. If you mention that you’re in Fred Segal to the average boutique owner they take notice.

There are other brand building boutiques with highly recognizable names such as Scoop NYC, ShopBop, Kitson, Intermix and Jeffery’s that can also be a big sprinboard into the contemporary maketplace.

These “incubators of talent,” so to speak set the stage for the types of stores that may become attracted to you.

By launching with brand building boutiques you are able to leverage their name to get into smaller boutiques throughout the country and the world. You could even attract big orders from large department stores that are looking for the next big thing.

There are a lot of trade shows out there…from MAGIC to Coterie to Project to Designers and Agents to FOCUS and the list goes on….

So how do you choose the show that is going to have the buyers you want to see???

Good Question…

Call them! These shows are businesses that are looking for customers.  Meaning looking for you.  So go to their website, get their number and ask to speak to a member of their sales department.

They can give you information as to the types of buyers, other exhibitors and show traffic.

Prior to investing in a show also request that the sales person give you a pass to walk the show so you can come to your own conclusions as to whether or not it is for your company.

There are a few ways you can clear your excess inventory.

1. Recreate the style...get creative add some different trims, overdye it to black…. make it into something else.

2. Sell to an off price retailer–Off price retailers like Loehmann’s, Ross and TJ Maxx may be open to buying your excess inventory. If you’re worried about preserving your brand–these companies can create distribution strategies so your product is sparsely scattered throughout the country.

3. Sell to Sample Sales– There are sample sale retailers such as Billion Dollar Babes, Hautelook.com, and The Warehouse Sale that could take units off your hands without damaging your brand.

Do you have an online store? If so you should definitely have it attached to some kind of analytics software.

That’s really part of the magic of the web…it’s not like a retail store where you have to stare at a survelience camera all day long to draw conclusions about how people are shopping in your store. Web analytics is a fast, easy and accurate way to see what’s really happening in your online business.

There are a lot of highly sophisticated systems out there however, small business owners may want to try google analytics software. It’s a good package and it’s at a price most people can appreciate (totally free).

With google analytics you can tell how many people are going to your website, what they are looking at, how long they stay and more.

This valuable information will clue you in as to whether or not people may be turned off by your long-loading flash intro…or if you have a large % of traffic you’re not converting to customers.

What if you have a large % of customers with product in a shopping cart that have never checked out? Hey…maybe that means your shipping prices are too high.

Whatever the case, analytics can turn lightbulbs on you never knew exisited. Make the most out of what you can find out…it’s only a click away.

Being late may be fashionable for some people…However it is a big HUGE actually no-no for fashion companies.

Think about it this way…

I’m a buyer I love your product…you say you can deliver by August 15th.

I place an order.

August 15th comes and goes and your product hasn’t arrived.

Since your product isn’t in my store when I need new product…which is why I’ve ordered yours I can’t make any money on it…plus I have to scramble to replace it.

I’m totally pissed.

I’m sure you can understand why this would be a problem. Even though every buyer isn’t going to be “totally pissed,” being late is simply bad business….very bad business.

So as an owner you really have to make sure you don’t take orders you can’t handle. This may mean you have to turn away money or invest in sharpening up your infrastructure so you can deliver on time.

If you’re not currently living under a rock, you’ve heard the current sentiment about the U.S Economy. We may not be in a dreaded recession however, at the very least we’ve all noticed the effects whopping gas prices can have on discretionary income.

So how can your fashion business survive in a struggling economy?

According to consultant Dana Fried of Delphic Consulting Group there are many things you can do to understand your company’s finances and make them work for you.

His upcoming FBI Seminar “Projecting and Planning your Financials: Increase Your Chances for Survival in a a Bad Economy,” goes over specific steps you can take to manage and grow your business in any enviornment.

Learn how to reduce risk in manufacturing, control production and sample costs, create a sound budget, cash flow management plus more.

You may not have control of the economy but you can certainly get control of your company’s finances…

When: 10am-11:30 am–Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Where: FBI Resource Center, The New Mart, 127 E 9th Street, Los Angeles, CA

Cost: $15 for FBI Members $25 for Non-Members

For More Information: www.fashionbizinc.org or 213.892.1669

Register Now!

As you think about creating your marketing plan for the coming season don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

With press for example…it could be extremely fulfilling to see your product in a magazine or on a celebrity but it’s important to note that press doesn’t always result in financial gain or even an increase in brand recognition.

That said think about a mix of marketing strategies that will help you accomplish your goals. You may decide to spread your marketing dollars across vehicles like the web, print or even promotional products.

Before you lay a dollar down for any marketing activity ask your self what you expect the return to be. It could be a specific dollar amount, a certain amount of traffic or something less quantifiable such as brand exposure.

Finishing houses are a really great service for small manufacturers.

A finishing house or service will steam, tag, remove lint, hang, poly-bag or do basically anything to make sure your product looks fresh and new when it arrives at your stores.

For companies who purchase blanks they may also use a finishing service to take out the blank company labels and replace them with their own.

Most finishing houses charge on the basis of materials as well as the time it takes to complete your process and it can add up….So don’t forget to add this cost into your margin calculations.