5 things I wish I knew before starting my retail business

Like most entrepreneurs, founder of Australian denim label, Peachay, Isabella Sen has learned a few business lessons the hard way before reaching brand success. Here, she shares the five things she wishes she had known before starting her business, so that others can learn from her mistakes.

Starting a business for the first time is an incredibly exciting but stressful time, as you’re learning everything as you go. This means lots of lessons are learned quickly, and often the hard way.

Getting some tips and hearing stories from other founders definitely helps to avoid some problems in the first place.

Here’s everything I wish I knew before starting my fashion brand

1. Quality assurance is your make or break

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. Having jeans delivered to my warehouse the wrong length, the wrong measurements, and the list goes on. If you don’t catch the problem in time, then it can impact the perception of your brand and be a nightmare to fix.

If you’re thinking whether it’s worth putting money into a strict quality assurance process, I would say it’s worth it.

2. You don’t need to go big, start small

Always think, “What’s my MVP?” – that’s tech speak for minimum viable product. It’s the most basic form of your product that meets your customer needs. It allows you to test your idea at a basic level, then you can add from there.

For me, this meant not launching a whole clothing collection at the get go, but rather starting with one pair and expanding slowly over time. It’s cheaper, less risky and helps you improve your product quicker.

3. Contracts are your friend. Protect your work!

When I started, I knew nothing about copyright, patents, terms of trade agreements – and the list goes on. If you don’t know much about business legals either, it’s time to learn.

Before you enter into any working relationship you want to always have some sort of contract written to add clarity over everything, from ownership to working agreements.

Make no assumptions. I’ve found that when something goes wrong, that’s when you wish you had a terms of trade in place. You’ll thank yourself later, trust me.

4. People will copy you – it just means you’re onto something good

As the success of Peachay grows, unfortunately so does the rise in copycat brands.

It’s hard not to feel frustrated but just know that you did it first, which means you’ll always be five steps ahead of them. Your customers will notice they’re a copycat anyway, so try to forget about them and focus on growing your brand.

This is also where contracts are handy as well, you don’t want someone you work with to share your ideas with a copycat brand!

5. Don’t forget, you can make things in Australia too

Manufacturing locally may cost more but it can mean shorter lead times (this is so important, especially when COVID hit), you’re more of a priority, and you can often find a partner who will produce smaller quantities, which can be important while you’re building your brand.

Don’t forget transport costs and import taxes can also add to your costs, and if you’re importing anything electrical, that’s even more money to get them certified.

I had a good experience manufacturing overseas, but opted to bring my business onshore over a year ago for my jeans.

Good luck!

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