Don’t miss this article if you plan to sell sportswear or you are just interested in the sportswear business. There are 10 warm warnings for you, so you won’t make any mistakes before starting a sports clothing line or brand. Old-branded Sports Clothing Manufacturer Berunwear factory really hopes this post is helpful to you.
10 Warnings that Sportswear Startups should Follow
Number 1 is they don’t have a tech pack. They go at it without any technical information or that technical idea of what their product is meant to look like. What are the materials, what is it supposed to fit like, what are the technical details of that garment. They assume it’s not necessary. Usually, it’s going to be necessary sketches that you make on your kitchen napkin are not gonna be enough to accurately depict what it is. Prepare the tech pack by yourself or ask the experienced Sports Clothing Manufacturer Berunwear to help you, be direct and professional about what you’re looking for.
Number 2 is they have no budget. What does that mean? Sometimes starting off too small can be an issue if you have no idea of what your financial requirements are for a certain product. Because you haven’t done the research ahead of time to figure out what is this thing gonna cost me, what are the expenses associated with it, how am I gonna be able to get this idea from something that’s in my head to the physical product, that’s in my customers’ hands and you have no idea of the expenses associated. It’s very easy to get lost or to get sucked into your project.
No one’s saying that you have to go ahead and invest tens of thousands of dollars starting off, but have an idea of what your budget is and remember it’s very important to know what your expenses are and can you afford those expenses. You don’t want to spend fifty percent of what your project cost and find out that you’re out of money, that’s the worst possible way to go about it.
Number 3 is they get stuck doing too many samples. It gets very exciting to create your prototype, your samples, and to have this design turn into a physical product, that you can share with your friends, with your potential customers, and getting caught up in making too many samples can be a potential pitfall something you want to avoid for instance. So what is something that we see customers requiring all the different colors that they happen and believe it or not factories are going to charge for this sample.
It’s a service, it’s not free especially when you’re starting off small, and the business potential is not huge. They’re going to need to charge for their time, the development time, it’s gonna take to make that sample. So getting caught up in creating too many samples is going to be a financial drain on your time, and obviously on your bank account. Samples are going to cost more than actual products, they’re gonna cost because there’s higher labor that cannot be amortized over the many different products you would create in a bulk order.
So your samples are gonna cost more, and again if you’re starting off small chances are those samples would not be refunded. There is a certain setup time and expertise that the factory has to incorporate into creating samples. And they need to be able to offset that cost, they can’t do that when the order is not that big. So don’t get caught up into making too many different samples.
Number 4 is really there’s unforeseen expenses. Doing your research ahead of time to figure out what it is that I’m going to have to pay for. And where do my financial obligations lie in this project, for example, a lot of people assume that the cost of creating a product could be just the unit price. That’s a very beginner take and that’s a horrible take on it. There’s a lot more associated with it, there may be certain dye costs, molding costs for logos, certain types of logos that you’re trying to create. Rubber logos, high-quality screen printed logos, there is some setup costs that are associated with it. If you’re setting up certain types of manufacturing lines, for instance, you have seamless manufacturing, there may be a small set-up cost associated with that, so it will depend on the type of manufacturing that you’re doing and the different details that you’re including in your product.
You need to be able to understand what your hidden costs are going to be, and those costs also include air freight, so basically the delivery cost what kind of delivery method are you taking is there. For instance, on a boat or a sea freight shipping cost you may have some loading costs, these are all different costs that can rack up over time, so doing your due diligence and figuring out what those costs are is necessary. You have also customs cost once the product clients into the country that you’re importing it into. There is going to be customs cost associated with that product and that customs gospel’ differ between country and country. It’ll differ according to your country in what country you’re importing it from. So understanding this cost is key to not get sucked in financially number.
Number 5 is many companies come and they have no idea of whether or not their company name is a trademark, are they able to trademark it, their logo is it already copyrighted, is there something similar. That’s copyrighted they invest a lot of time money and effort, only to find out 5,6,12, 24 months down the line, that that specific trademark is taken. And they’re being pursued by legal action by another company and they have to completely change their brand image, their brand structure, and they’ll lose that community or they lose that trademark or that brand foundation that they’ve created over the last 24 months.
It’s very important to do a quick trademark search to find out what it is that you’re really trying to get yourself into, from a trademark or a copyright perspective.
Number 6 is expecting that the physical product that one creates would be identical to the digital designs, just because you can conceive it in your head, does not necessarily mean that this will translate into a physical product. I see that with very complex designs that have many different fabrics, trims, colors, details, associated with them, and the budget is far too small to be able to execute all those designs you have to bear in mind. That every single piece of fabric, of trim that is on a garment, should be sourced. It has its own production, it may come from different factories, and those factories are going to require their services to be paid for. So the more complex the garment, the higher your cost is going to be.
And sometimes things are just impossible you have pockets that are too small trims, that are too expensive details, that just don’t physically work on that construction of the garment. So expecting your garment to be exactly as the design is detailed may in some cases impossible. Bear that in mind, and approach that with an open mind, and be flexible in the way that you’re communicating with your supplier. Because at the end of the day, it is in your best interest to get your best possible product out there. But you do have to get a product out there, you don’t want to invest all that time and effort, and to end up with nothing.
Number 7 is really a lot of clients or brands that don’t have a marketing plan. So they’ve gone through the trouble of creating this product, having it delivered to theirs, to the warehouse, or their location, and now they have no idea of how they’re going to market that product. Whether it’s through influencer marketing, through paid ads, through SEO, through creating organic content, they have no marketing plan and no executional idea of how it is. They’re gonna get the word out there.
Bear in mind just because you have a product doesn’t mean anyone will buy it. The first way to get someone to buy your product is to get them to know about it. Exposure is everything and putting out a great product is obviously going to be your key focus but having people know about it is going to be your secondary focus. Create a marketing plan, understand what your channels are, and dive into it, and understand that without marketing, you won’t be able to sell your product. Which means you won’t have the fuel necessary to create more amazing products.
Number 8 is an amateur website. Your website is where your customers are going to find you. That’s where they’re gonna purchase your designs, your products. That’s what’s gonna fuel your business. So having a professional sophisticated home that is worthy of the product that you’re selling is key. Just because they have a good product doesn’t mean that your website can lack your branding, and your identity should match the level of detailed quality that you’re putting in your product.
At the end of the day the impression that your customers are gonna get from. The buying experience is going to be as equally important as the impression that they’re gonna get from the physical product. If not more important because that’s the first place they’re going to entertain the idea of actually buying your products. So make their experience as good as it can be.
Number 9 is a lack of packaging and trims. Customers go ahead and they create their products, they manufacture their products, and then they realize they don’t have any care labels. They may need a country of origin label, that by law some countries will for that they meet some sizing information, some fabric information. They may need some hangtags in order to brand their items. Some actual poly mailers in order to ship out their items. So you don’t want to be caught in a situation where you have the raw product landed on your doorstep. And no way of packaging it in a convincing, in a professional way you don’t want to be using those stock white pieces of poly malar bags.
When you’ve already gone through the trouble of creating a customized product from the ground up, you want your packaging to match it. Berunwear, as one of the leading Chinese Sports Clothing Manufacturers, supports private label service and customized packaging would love for you to check it here.
Number 10 and most importantly is too much ideas. It’s very easy to get sucked into the inspiration world and to see what’s out there. And it’s always good to have a visual representation of what you may want from other brands. But at the end of the day, you have to bear in mind, you’re putting out something unique into the world that should be the core concept of anything you do related to this brand. The brand imaging should be fresh, the brand messaging should be something that hasn’t been done before, the idea of the story should be personal to you. Why should someone buy from your brand, when they can just get the same product from a billion other brands. You’re trying to do something different, that’s the beauty, that’s the power of creating customized apparel.
That’s why this industry exists and that’s the way you should attack it. What is your personal message, what’s the story that you’re trying to tell. Figure that out and find out how you can differentiate yourselves from everyone else. And try not to copy too much keep your head down. Do your work and create something that is truly unique with the help from Custom Sportswear Supplier Berunwear Company.
That’s the 10 warm warnings Berunwear offers you, we hope you guys can learn something from that, if we missed anything at all, please feel free to email [email protected]. We’d love to hear what your experience has been like and maybe we can help you with sportswear brand building, thanks for all.