Answer
Dec 12, 2018 - 12:39 PM
Many perky-sounding blog posts report being able to start a clothing line for well under $5,000. However, other first person accounts report not being able to get off the ground for less than $20,000. The warning that your company may never become profitable, no matter how much money you sink into it, also lurks beneath the surface.
Of course, it depends on how large-scale you want your business to be. If you want to sell a few things at local events, you can probably get off the ground for under $5,000, or even under $1,000. If you want a full retail line marketed to target audience members across the globe, you’ll need to sink a lot more money into marketing, photoshoots, and much more.
It sounds like your goals are more in line with the first scenario. You already have the product idea, and a place to start promoting. You’ll really just need funds for production, and eventually for promotion.
Check out the manufacturers you might use to make your first run, and use their numbers to set your budget. Factor in some extra funding for business cards or other promotional materials you can hand out at those events, too. Then, make sure to start setting money aside for your future marketing efforts, like Shopify.
The first step - selling at local events - can be done for no more than a couple thousand dollars, I suspect. But successfully marketing a Shopify site will also take a significant investment of either money or time (this can mean taking time away from your regular job, which is why I recommend setting aside some funds). Promoting your Shopify business means using modern digital marketing tactics. You’ll need to either invest in learning and executing them on your own, or pay someone else to do it.
It might be a good idea to set a spending cap on your project. This can help you ensure that your excitement about moving forward doesn’t leave you with serious financial problems later on. Since you plan on starting small and local, I think a budget of under $5,000, depending on the cost of production, is completely reasonable. However, as your business grows, your budget may need to grow too.
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