Recently, FBI sent out a survey to our members and non-members alike.  We wanted your feedback on how FBI serves the fashion industry and what we can do to improve our offerings to you and the fashion community in general. You were not shy in your responses and we thank you for your input.  We’re always looking for ways to improve our services and, with this feedback, we have our jobs cut out for ourselves.

127 members and non-members responded to our membership survey.  Some of the respondents in the “Other” category included students, freelance pattern makers and people looking to get started in the fashion industry.  We received responses from Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New York, Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming, South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Washington, Michigan, Oregon and a few from Jolly old England.

 Following  are the survey responses to each question asked along with selected comments.

 “What are the biggest challenges currently facing your business?” 

Comments included:  “assisting students to secure employment,” “shortage of jobs and internships,” “understanding production and how to source locally,” “product development,” “the economy,” “sourcing fabrics” and “getting funding.”

“Which FBI services do you currently take advantage of?” 

Several respondents “would like to see classes offered in the Bay Area.”  Other comments included:  “would like more on-line training,” “would like to take the walking tour,” “would like more social events,” “want to find out more about the consultants,” “would like to participate in the fashion show.” 

We need to take advantage of putting more seminars and classes either on-line as a download or as a Webinar, if at all possible.  With so many people outside of the LA/SF area participating in this survey, the only opportunity most people have to come in to the FBI office is during market, and they’re usually too busy to attend classes or seminars. 

“Which Seminars do you most frequently take?” 

Many of the respondents have yet to take a class or a seminar, whether it’s due to location or the fact that some of them aren’t members,  approximately 30 percent  said they haven’t taken a seminar. 

 “What other types of services, seminars, classes, Fashion events, or networking opportunities would you like FBI to present?” 

Responses include:  “trend and color seminars,” “home furnishing/fashions,” “planning for business growth,” “PLEASE OFFER CLASSES IN SF, especially Photoshop and Illustrator,” “sales and marketing - for established businesses, not just startups,” “classes in NY,” “create online FBI community so members can get to know one another, even if it’s just virtual,” “sourcing and manufacturing in the US,” “developing products for plus-size/mature markets,” “sourcing, sourcing, sourcing,” “operations,” “finding sales reps,” “how to work with retail buyers, how to meet retail buyers,” “finance,” “understanding computer systems,” “online marketing,” “ecommerce - how to set up an online store,” “utilizing social media,” “mixers with famous designers and sales reps.”

“Please let us know how frequently you would like to receive our emails” 

It appears as though we’re on target with the number of emails we send.  Certain things like sign-ups for fashion shows should be sent out well in advance so people can have enough time to prepare.

 “In what ways has the Fashion Business, Inc. helped your career and/or business?” 

Comments included: “the book “Fashion for Profit” was the best investment I’ve made in my business,” and various other comments about how beneficial the book has been,  “I took the AIMS certification course,” “It’s great to know there’s an organization out there helping people like me get into the business,” “…has exposed me to areas in the business that school never did. I have a merchandising & design degree from Cal. State Northridge and I was never taught the things I have learned through FBI.”

“How would you rate your overall membership experience with us?” 

Comments from our members included:  “Computers in lab weren’t working properly when I took a class there,” “not a lot of programs or classes available in SF,” “every time I call with a question or send an email everyone is so helpful and friendly,” “thank you for your services and advice to the small business owner,” “would like more classes during weekends or evenings or webinars or on-line - I can’t attend during the work day,” “would like to see more networking events and seminars.”

Interestingly, we received the most comments from non-members.  Many people are on our email lists through workshops, events, etc.  They felt compelled to participate in the survey if only to voice that they’d like to see more workshops and classes in their local areas.  Other comments included the fact that our memberships were “too expensive” as were our seminars.  Again, these were coming from non-members.

If you have any comments, ideas, etc. please feel free to email us at info@fashionbizinc.org or stop by and see us at the California Market Center in Los Angeles, suite C786.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

The other day I had an interesting conversation with the owner of an apparel company.  The subject of budgets and plans came up.  Or, maybe I should say, I brought up the subject of budgets and plans and asked him how he was planning and budgeting.  His response was “Well, I kind of come up with my budget for the year and forget about it until next year when I have to plan it all over again.”  Talk about lost opportunities!  So I asked him what he used to create a sales plan.  His response was “Well, I kind of have a number in my head and that’s what I use.”  Then I asked him if he communicates this sales plan to his sales and merchandising team.  His response was “Not really.  The design and merchandising team builds the line and the sales team sells it.”  Oh, dear. 

I’ve known this guy for a long time and he does relatively well in his market space.  His sales volume is between 12 – 15 million, so he’s not really in the Big Leagues, but he has a great opportunity here to get much greater control and understanding of his business than I think he realizes.  No business is too small to take advantage of this relatively simple function called “Planning.”

Step one:  Start with a budget.  Be realistic about what you need for your operating costs, salaries, overhead, insurances, rent, materials, etc.  If you have never built a budget like this, take a few hours to meet with your accountant – What!?!?  No Accountant?!?!?  Seriously?  O.K. start the process by working with an accountant to build a financial plan.  You really need this, more than I can tell you in a blog.  In order to truly understand your business all the way down to the gross margin level, you need a financial plan.  You need to know your expenses in order to understand how to cost your products and how to determine your true gross margin after all is said and done. 

Step two:  Build a financial plan based on what you think your company will be able to sell and be realistic!  If you’re a 5 million dollar company this year, don’t expect to hit 20 million next year.  Analyze this year’s sales versus last year’s sales.  Have you added customers or lost customers?  Have you added market share or lost market share?  Now think about what next year’s realistic goal should be.  Are you looking to add product categories?  Will that open new doors for you?  Or are you expecting to do about the same as last year.  Neither of these is the wrong answer, by the way,  you just need to know how to plan.

Step three:  Work with your sales team to create a sales plan.  How can they plan to meet your sales goals?  What do they need to do?  Continue business as usual? Open 10 new accounts each at a dollar volume of 20,000 per account?  Let them know what you’d LIKE to see and have them come back to you with what they see.  Oh, and perhaps you can tie some of their compensation to meeting the sales goals you both establish?  This way, they’re just as invested in the business as you are.

Step four:  Work with the design and merchandising team to develop a merchandising plan that meets the needs of the sales team.  If sales thinks they can sell the heck out of dresses but pants and skirts are trending down and your designers are only designing pants and skirts, maybe you need to stop and review everything before moving forward.  The goal of a merchandising plan is to give the design team an understanding of what types of product, categories and price points they should be building to meet the needs of the customers. 

By tying the merchandising plan to the sales plan and the sales plan to the financial plan, you start to see how the business works toward a common goal – profitability.  Everyone likes to be profitable, no?  Now, when it comes to planning for the next year, you’ll know what your expenses are, you’ll know what your gross margins are and you can start thinking about what the next steps for your business should be.  Raises, anyone?  New office space?  Better computer systems?  At least now you’ll know if you can afford any or all of that. 

Looking for accounting or financial planning help?  Check out the FBI’s list of consultants and financial services.