Archive for April, 2007
People always ask me what it’s like to run my own clothing line. Or they ask what it’s like to start my own business. I asked this a lot when I was first convincing myself that the idea was feasible. Tonight, I have a simple answer. It’s a lot of late nights and early mornings. It’s giving up TV and convincing yourself to do one more thing on your to-do list; like create the additional versions of a product packaging graphic (which I LOVE).
The crazy thing about it is that if you have found the right business to start, meaning the right business for you, something you love, then you won’t care that it means a lot of late nights and early mornings. Sometimes, you’ll be so thrilled by the momentum in your business that you won’t even think about sleep; other times you’ll hit lulls and sneak in more sleep (the lulls do a body good).
I’m always tell myself there’ll be time for the sleeping when this business is well-begun. And, we’re in a ramp up to a weekend event, so there’s extra-lateness to our nights and extra-earliness to our mornings. But it’s the best thing in the world to me, because my kids went with me to my final appointment tonight and because I make the rules, which, obnoxious as it is, is important to me.
April 25th, 2007
Just a couple of trade shows into the fashion business and I can tell you about some costs that you would never think of when you’re getting ready for your first trade show. The booth cost is only the beginning. As we’re learning to track everything a lot better, I’m getting a better picture of how to figure out and estimate expenses for a trade show. I think this is probably true across industries, but I can attest to the costs I list below for fashion collection trade shows.
The “betcha-didn’t-know” costs of a trade show:
- Electricity – This might sound really silly, but we still haven’t gotten it together enough to order extra electricity. However, now that we have decided on a standard booth setup – I know where we’ll put the lighting next time we do a tradeshow and it’ll be easy to place our electricity order. The cost of extra electricity seems to start around (START) around $175; that’s for one outlet.And it’s not a good idea to decide that you’ll go in and rig a couple of extension cords and make it work. They’ll check out your booth, charge for the electricity anyways, plus some likely additional fees for being a thief.
- Moving Labor – For a lot of shows you HAVE to pay for the labor to move your booth setup materials from the loading dock to the presentation hall. Check for additional rules regarding what you can and can not carry in, what must be wheeled in, and what must be paid for.
- Parking -At convention centers, parking is often an additional fee.
- Clean-up fees; for a lot of trade shows, vacuuming and extra clean-up will cost you extra.
- Internet
Here are some trade show prep fees to keep in mind:
- Print Materials – posters, brochures, catalogs, price lists, business cards and coupons all fall into this category.
- Hotel – You’ll likely be paying for a few nights at a hotel, which will likely have additional parking fees.
- Display fixtures – hooks, grid walls, tape, scissors, pins, tables, floor coverings, and everything else that helps you craft your display falls into this category.
We’ve done what we can to capitalize on our investments for each show, so we can re-use as much as possible, for as long as possible. Two days away from this weekend’s event and I think we’ve got a good grip. We’re meeting the mini-deadlines we’ve set for ourselves, crafted great product packaging for our great new product, and so, I just know we’re going to have a great show this weekend.
Please, jump in and add any trade show costs that I missed. It’s late night here, so I’m sure there are a few.
April 24th, 2007
It’s always nice to read real-life stories of truly successful fashion (and baby product) designers. This article on three “mompreneurs” who’ve made it to the big time, big time as in you’ll likely know who these woman are (at least 2 of the 3). Liz Lange now designs maternity fashions for Target; she started by selling custom designs one-at-a-time because her business didn’t have the money for bulk manufacturing. And then she signed with Nike; and then she signed with Target. And that’s big time.
Isn’t it weird that it’s refreshing to hear how others also suffered on their way to success? But it is; it’s oh so, so, so, so refreshing.
Read the article, it’s inspiring.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
Progress on project planning: downloading calendar templates from MS Word. Going to meet my “draft-by-midweek” deadline.
April 23rd, 2007
To begin fleshing out the project plan and schedule for our Spring ’08 Kids Collection, there are a few things I have to take into consideration. First, our schedule must be for the entire business, not just one project. Next, I have to figure out the “must-knows” in order to make the plan and schedule realistic. And finally, I’ll hash out an initial draft and get a picture of the estimated budget.
I’ve decided that I will add our marketing and other “business management” deadlines to the season’s project schedule. Because running a business is more than just launching a collection. To help me run the business, I want to get a picture of how all department deadlines are working together. The design of the Spring 2008 collection will be my main project, but we need to add weekly status meetings, marketing deadlines, admin tasks, sales appointments and tasks, and all the other stuff that has to happen to keep business running as we go along.
As I’m working through the project management details in my head, I’m getting a grip on the three things I need to know in order to make the project schedule realistic:
We need to create a budget and look at our resources. We should have a post-mortem meeting for last season and take everybody’s input on what went wrong (and what went right of course). I think I will schedule that for mid-week. By mid-week, I should have a good draft of the project timeline.
Next, I’ll work backwards from the end deadline to now to figure out all the intermediate deadlines. I work from the market date, or final deadline, because if I know when I need to be ready for market (design samples are done, print materials complete, and we’re ready to take orders) , then I know how far in advance I need to have the samples back, how far in advance I need to have the print materials to the printer.
On budget, I would approach by fleshing out how much I expect each aspect of the project to cost, from development to marketing the line. Then, see what projected total cost is, figure out if this is do-able. From there, the tweaking begins, do we need to drop a design? Move the marketing deadline? Can we add an accessory?
April 22nd, 2007
I usually use the textile show (which I missed) to kick off my season’s project schedule. So, that was last week for the Spring ’08 fashion season.
I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to make a real effort to track the progress and main events of the season’s product development through this blog. I hope that a lot of you will jump in and comment to share what you’re doing to make it to market in time.
First things first, we need to work on a realistic project schedule. Figure out our main deadlines and then start working on the designs. I’m going to use good old MS Excel to create a project timeline and then I’ll create a project calendar.
We go to market for Spring ’08 in August. We’re going to try to run this like a decent project and not like we’re a couple of chicken’s with our heads cut off.
One week to our big event, so I’m going to make the project schedule due beginning of the following week. This week I will start to mull over the designs in my head. I’m going to try to come up with a theme and then find some fabrics to go along with it.
I don’t think I’ll miss a textile show again. It’s such a great way to kick off the season. Ah well. We’ll work around that. It’s nice that a lot of suppliers have websites now, so you can at least get a visual before you talk to them.
So, here we go. Designing for ’08 already, it’s amazing.
April 21st, 2007
Sometimes I just want to throw up my hands and give up on managing time at all. We are one week away from a huge event and I feel blind-sided by the fact that my husband has volleyball tournaments all weekend. It’s me and the kids and my biz and no one to rescue me. Boo hoo poor me. The only thing is that it’s stressing me out completely, and I wonder how I always end up here, a week or two away from an event, wishing I had better time managment skills.
I think I would recommend to everybody that you break your project down into the smallest pieces possible and enforce your deadlines. This is my advice to myself. Actually, it’s repeatedly the advice to myself. And I’m sure I ramble about it.
But we do get a little better each time. I’ve done some of the things on the to-do, and so far, I think we’re OK. But this weekend is a huge thing, I can’t believe I didn’t realize he’d be gone on Sunday too. Three days of day-long tournaments. But this is the reality of running a business and raising two young kids, something has to give…there’s give and take, push and pull. And you know, I need to lighten up a little too – it happens, we do our best, and we’re still with our kids most of the time. It helps to keep my priorities in perspective.
I need to flip my attitude. At least we are sticking to our priorities. The must-haves ARE happening; like shopping bags and the catalog – print materials. The other problem with the whole weekend of tournaments is that my husband has a lot of graphics work on his shoulder for the big b*Fab event.
I wish I had eight hands. My hands right now are off to get the kids to school. Someday I’ll have an assistant; someday I’ll have an assistant. Someday, we’ll get it all together…
April 20th, 2007
I’ve been determined to tackle my priority list – in order, and that means that today I’m not going to make it up to the LA textile show. There’s too much to do before our next event (now only a week and a half away), plus aspects of running the business that got pushed back by taxes, and to wipe a day to go up to the show today doesn’t seem like it’ll happen.
But I really want to go. I love getting the color cards and seeing the trends, getting inspired. See, as I write that I’m tempted to jump in my car and get the heck out of here. Maybe I can swing it for tomorrow if I get some stuff done today. Anyhow, I won’t get to meet my friend from Baby Nika until the ABC Show.
This is a realistic business decision for me to make, I have the books from the last two textile shows, so I have plenty of contacts to call for swatches when I’m ready to get new fabrics. I did want to source some new types of fabrics, so I was hoping to find a few new suppliers, but by the time I’m ready to do that product development, I’ll have plenty of time to make phone calls.
Can you tell I’m going back and forth between need and desire? I need to stay here and hammer out a lot of the “to-dos”; I want to go play and go shopping, meet my friend. Ah, it’s like torture. Of course, I’d sit in traffic for literally hours before getting there. But, I could still make it.
If only I’d planned my time better up until now, so I could be breezing out the door worry-free. Instead, I’ve got a ton of stuff hovering over me.
April 17th, 2007
The advent of yearly taxes has forced us to finish up our spring cleaning. I couldn’t be more thankful. I feel like we’re getting a little bit of control back. Going through this exercise, coupled with mis-placing important papers over the last couple of months, has been just the slap-in-the-face we needed to get the business paperwork together.
To create a method for the madness, for the madness will never subside.
I’ve learned that I need to keep much better records of our every move. I’ve learned that there is a lot I don’t know, so “bookkeeper” is high on our list of must-hire goals / priorities. But we’re alright for this year considering we’re still a small company. And I kept receipts and bank records help on the double-check.
Taxes are this great big black cloud that just hovers until the fateful day arrives. The silver lining is that mounds of papers have now been properly filed and it feels like my head got de-cluttered at the same time. We’ll be going back to our tax accountant next year, guaranteed. Especially since we plan on being a much larger company. I guess this isn’t much of a helpful-post business-wise, unless someone out there gets motivated to keep track of everything from the get-go. Every thing, every thing, every little thing.
I can’t believe how stressful it is. We’re in the home stretch. And we have to be, because I’d really like to make it to the textile show tomorrow.
Besides taxes, there is so much admin stuff that has to happen today it’s crazy. Go girl, just keep going.
April 16th, 2007
On a scale of one to five for effort, I’d give myself a three for the last couple of months. That’s being honest. Or too harsh. We have a lot going on, so maybe the fact that things fall off my plate each day is due to the over-ambition more than laziness. But, I could sleep a little less, and oh boy will I be getting little-to-no sleep for the next couple of weeks. Less than two weeks until our big retail event. As my duaghter says – “Yipes! Yipes! Yipes!”
But, we’re finally getting real about the business management and we had a good meeting on Friday, about all that needs to get done by then. We’ve got a list! We have no choice but to put one foot in front of the other all day long, every day and chink through that list.
Posters posters posters. Posters with cool images because a picture says 1000 words. This was the one thing we wanted to get done by KIDShow but didn’t. We didn’t know enough about lighting to get anything special, but this time we do.
Plus, speaking of overly-ambitious, I’m working on designing some super-cute super-simple dresses and making the headbands match. Two weeks though. This is why we NEED the list and have to start at the top – so that the most important stuff gets done first – leaving the “nice-to-haves” for last.
April 15th, 2007
It seems like it’s always when you give up on something that it finally happens. But you can’t pseudo give-up, you have to really be done with the whole thing. Theory of the day anyways. Today, we got a thank-you note from Brooke Shields. The awesome thing is that this is thank you note from a celebrity for something besides our blankets. She received one of our hooded reversible ponchos. And she mentioned the poncho doubles as a security blanket and thumb sucking aide. Awesome! It was so out-of-the-blue and actually came to a different address than I would have expected.
Last week’s good surprise was a feature of one our our onesies (graphic is my husband’s design) in the print magazine “Yogi Times”. They sent us a copy and said “you’ve been featured” and I flipped!!! Our first free print publicity.
Besides my belief that things happen after you’ve given up on them, (by the way – “giving up” is not a good philopophy to live, or run a business, by), I’m also a firm believer that if you keep working hard towards your dream, you’ll slowly watch it unfold in front of your eyes. Not that I ever specifically dreamed we’d get a thank-you note FROM BROOKE SHIELDS, oh my goodness! especially for a fashion item which I designed, but definitely I dreamed one day a celebrity would notice our stuff.
Each time one of these wonderful *exciting* things happens, it motivates us to kick it up a notch. Which leads to another of my recent theories; if things are going good and you’re working hard, then you’ll never be totally “on top” of things. If you’re truly hungry, each success will push you take on too much, to keep chasing after that next notch on your ladder, never fully satisfied. Which I guess is why I love watching reality shows with design challenges like “Project Runway” or “Top Design” – because it’s so refreshing to see that being overly ambitious is a common trait and that pushing the deadline right up until that moment you absolutly have to run out the door, is just as common; no matter how much experience you have under your belt.
Granted, the above work habits are not the greatest example of stellar project management, or slick organization skills, but I believe they are good signs for success potential – to be able to constantly push yourself to be the best that you can be.
My husband is a coach and it’s one of his best post-game lines which always sticks in my head; which always pushes me on: “On a scale of one to five, how would you rate your level of effort right now?”
Be honest.
April 14th, 2007
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