Every business revolves around the primary principle of ‘buying low and selling high.’ The same applies to a clothing line business. The best way to begin a clothing business is to buy wholesale at low cost, add your mark-up percent to the goods, and then put them up on sale to earn a fair profit.
There is no problem purchasing wholesale products, but you need to find the appropriate wholesaler’s goods.
How to open a wholesale clothing business?
To open a wholesale clothing business, you need to decide the kind of clothes you wish to trade, and then you need to start to search for relevant wholesalers. Then, contact them through a phone call, email, or in person. Meanwhile, prepare a retail business license. The Trademark owners will permit you to sell their goods if you agree to their terms.
Further, you are required to maintain a healthy relationship with the wholesale suppliers for your business’s success.
Glimpse through the detailed requirements of starting a clothing business with wholesale purchase.
How to get a retail business license?
To get the retail business license you need to register your business with your state’s Secretary of State office. You will get a sales tax license and number. In the last step, Establish an Employer Identification Number at IRS.gov. After this, you can open a company checking account.
Fulfilling the Legal Obligations
You are expected to secure legal permits, licenses, and related documents to initiate any business. This would ensure that you can run the business in any given area or location. To start with, get a state or city business license for your clothing line. Further, you require trade insurance to protect your business assets in case of a mishap.
Deciding on the right location for a business is also crucial for its success. This does not mean that you have to establish your store in a plush area. All you need is a clean and uncongested location to set up a showroom. Besides, every business entails a marketing strategy and advertising plan for its impressive opening. Any business owner would like to put a good first impression on the potential customers waiting outside the store.
Choosing your Niche
What is your target audience? And what kind of clothes do you prefer to sell? For example, do you want to focus on kids’ clothing, teen fashion, ladies’ wear, or others? If you wish to trade in one particular type, examine your area and determine where the market is lagging. That is the niche where you can fill the space and establish yourself.
If clothing options are scarce for tall, sturdy teenaged boys, and start a clothing line specifically focussing on this group, you provide the relevant niche. Similarly, if there are no boutiques for ladies/girls’ formal or luxury wear, you may open up a particular showroom for these clothes.
It is essential to scrutinize the market to learn about its competitive and non-competitive parts. This will help you model your business accordingly. Other alternatives include opening a retail kiosk or storing the goods and selling them online on sites like eBay.
Searching for Wholesalers
After you have worked out your business strategy and fulfilled the legal obligations, you need to look for the wholesalers. There are several ways to find suitable wholesale suppliers. One way is to search for companies’ websites that trade in various clothing brands. Alternatively, you can check the websites of the relevant clothing brands. You will see some wholesale-related information present on the top or bottom end of the site. Here, you may not find detailed data related to order quantity, costs, terms, or qualifications. But you can use the information to get the wholesaler’s contact number, location, or email id.
Contacting the Wholesale Suppliers
Generally, there is a provision of applying directly for wholesale on a website. However, you may have to email or call the wholesaler’s representative in some cases. The complete process is primarily simple for you to become a reseller. Yet, the wholesalers of elite brands may cause a few complications if your business has just recently started.
You will be asked to show documents that confirm the legitimacy of your business. Wholesale suppliers require your copies of the business license, resale permit, and invoices of any other wholesale accounts you may have. Before signing agreements with wholesalers, ensure that you know all their terms, pricing conditions, credit criteria, and additional essential information.
Building Supplier Relationships
Relationships play a vital role in any retail business. From searching for the wholesalers to working with them, you need to put in adequate time, money, and effort. Building a healthy relationship with suppliers is crucial to the final success of your trade. If you are on good terms with the wholesaler’s representative, you will probably get favorable terms, pricing, and merchandise for your business. Therefore, it is essential to stay respectful of a wholesaler’s time and payment dates. Similarly, if you face any issue concerning wholesale products or related things, it is better to communicate and address it soon; it may escalate into a bigger problem.
Other Alternatives for Inventory
Given below are some of the other ways to purchase wholesale clothing products:
- Visiting trade fairs or similar events of the clothing industry
Here, you can directly meet the wholesaler representatives and look through their sample goods before purchasing the stock.
- Buying goods from the stores that want to dispose of their merchandise
These stores are either losing business or wish to do away with interests at the season’s end. Even though their items may not be in trend, they will still profit you. Such products are usually found in abundance and give you a chance to please the customers with good low-cost deals.
- Associating with Liquidators
Wholesale liquidation companies purchase unsold goods from catalog merchants and leading departmental stores. These goods are then stored in bundles and sold to resellers. In this, you cannot pick and choose every piece based on your likings or preference. However, you benefit from buying new branded clothes for pennies on a dollar. Besides, popular liquidators let you know the contents of the bundles exactly. In addition, some of these companies offer lots online at their websites to place an order more efficiently.
After leaving Wells Fargo Bank in 2014, Daniel began a career as a finance consultant, advising companies and individuals on economic policy, labor relations, and financial management.
At Nimblefreelancer.com, Daniel writes about personal finance topics, value estimation, budgeting strategies, retirement planning, and portfolio diversification.
Read more on Daniel Smith's biography page.
Contact Daniel: daniel@nimblefreelancer.com
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