Unfortunately, running a fashion brand gets harder before it gets easier. There is an awkward adolescent stage as the business gets more complex and bigger but the processes and efficiencies haven’t caught up yet.
It usually happens after the first few years. In the early years of a brand, things are fairly simple. You aren’t dealing with a high volume of production or orders yet and you can do many things in your business yourself to save money.
Then comes the growing pains. Orders increase. More capital is needed to fund the larger production runs needed. You get spread thin as you debate whether you can afford to go full time with your business or hire someone to help you. Everything from software to website back-end to ads needs an upgrade. Things get much more complex in the business, but the revenue hasn’t increased enough to cover the new costs.
It is only after this tough season that things start to get easier. The finances are more stable and you can reliably hire more help. Production is higher volume, but so are the orders. With larger bulk production runs, you benefit from efficiency and get a better cost per unit on your materials and production. The decisions you made during the growing pains are paying off now. You know what works for your brand and what doesn’t. You’ve built relationships with factories and vendors that you work well with and you learned from mistakes.
What stage are you in with your fashion business? The simple and perhaps a bit naive early years, the growing pain stage, or the established and scaling stage?