How to Start a Home Clothing Business
Thanks to the internet, building a successful discount clothing business can easily be done from the comfort of your own home, free of the stresses and strains that come with maintaining shop premises. If you know what you want to sell (consumers tend to value expertise in a particular niche) and are aware of your target market, getting your business up and running may be easier than you think.
Step 1: Creating a Home Office
A private and dedicated workspace within the home is essential in ensuring you run your business like a professional operation. It will also allow you to take advantage of a home office for tax deduction purposes.
Step 2: Register your Business
Before you begin the important step of securing stock, you must first register with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for tax and National Insurance pages. HMRC has great documentation on its site to guide you through this process. You can check that out here.
Step 3: Open a Business Account
A dedicated business account will make it easier to keep on top of business finances. Running a business from your personal account can lead to all sorts of bookkeeping complications where tax returns and expenses are concerned.
Step 4: Get your Stock
If your business is going to be a relatively small-time venture operated via EBay or classified websites such as Gumtree, your stock needs are likely to be relatively small and items can be secured from sales at shops, markets, and car boot fairs. If you are planning to run a full-time, fully-fledged business, however, you are going to need to get your stock via wholesale clothing suppliers.
These guys specialise in purchasing stock in bulk and selling it on cheaply. As a retailer, you can then purchase the required number of items and mark them up accordingly. Using cheap wholesale clothing providers also eliminates the need for negotiating with manufacturers – a great benefit if you are inexperienced in this area.
Step 5: Get a Website
A good website will be vital to your success. If you are not experienced in web design, it is well worth investing in professional services. This is beneficial from a design and functionality standpoint and to ensure your business features prominently in search engines. Also, make sure you have a strong presence on social media – a lot of your business will come through these channels.
Step 6: Work on a Supply and Demand Basis
If you are working from home then it is unlikely that you will have much room for a large inventory. If you can afford to invest in storage for your goods, great – if not, you should try to operate on a supply and demand basis. When customers place orders, you order the products from the wholesale clothing supplier. The customer pays you the amount advertised; you pay the wholesale price and keep the rest for yourself.
Step 7: Maintain a Customer Database
Maintain a customer database and send out discount clothing coupons and catalogues every month/quarter. This will help you make profits from existing customers and allow you to keep a loyal following.
