need help ! business idea

pbody1985

Hey guys ,

Im looking on setting up an new business , basically i want to set up an online website to break into the fashion world , where the customer can actually design there own clothing and shapes colours sizes etc ... ive done a bit of research behind it and nobody does it ! im surprised ... also asked a few people what they thought and they said its a really good idea ... people saying they sick of going into shops and not finding things they want or not fitting them the way they want .... i just want to make fashion that bit easier .... I just dont know where to start and was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas or anything at all ???? would be most grateful .

cheers

pbody .

Will

I have seen many sites do custom clothing ranging from t-shirts to shoes. Vans shoe company do it...

Example here.

pbody1985

thanks i know yeah that there is sites where you can design your own tshrits and like pick your own printing for it or colours , im talking like clothing .. itself , as in styles , sizes colours makes .... not just putting the lettering or colours on them .... where u get the chance to be the desinger and do it yourself ..

Will

Talk to a web designer get them to develop a web application for you to do what you describe. Gonna have to be pretty robust app to cater for everyone's needs.

Whether it is viable as a business I don't know. :-/
Is there a huge market out there for custom clothing in the current climate?
Who is your target market?
Do they trust online stores for clothing?
Overheads and manufacturing time?

Lots to think about

pbody1985

ok cheers thanks will .. i shall continue researching

Axwell

Sorry but how does this become viable past the website phase? For example who would make the actual clothes and at what cost. Also if you are going to give people free reign on design then that means the person making the clothes has to make each item from scratch to the spec given which just sounds like a nightmare and highly expensive. In terms of colours etc you will have problems making sure the colours copy over correctly from the web (RGB) to actual clothing and ink in clothing. What about if something isnt right when the person gets it, wrong size or something else. Considering it was a one off piece you cant just exchange it or send them a new one.

Just seems to be so many issues with it that maybe thats why no one has done it so far. The reason tshirt printing etc works is because there is a base product there which is standard and the design just applied to it, you are talking about starting completely from scratch with a blank canvas which just sounds like too much to be honest.

spoonface

Have a read of the book "Boo Hoo" before starting down this road. Also have a read of some entrepreneurial books that will help you take a good hard look at whether you have something or should not proceed further. Even going through the steps in Dummies Guide to Writing a Business Plan would be the best 20 Euro you spend on this project. So make a full well thought-out business plan for yourself firstly and you can also use it should you be looking to bring others in e.g. seeking finance etc.

Its a good idea, but I think its a lot lot bigger then you think maybe. Axewell makes good points.
What you would need to do is get a contract with a company who works with fabrics on the cheap, like in India or something. They would need to be on your wavelength, and you would need volume to make it work otherwise it will be too expensive for the customers.
I dont think people will pay a lot of money for clothes that arent branded even if they design them themselves so your margin mightnt be too good considering shipping etc.
You would also need to get people to pay upfront for their designs, because they are going to be designing something that often they wont like when it arrives - they would be amateurs remember.
It might work on a more commercial level, ie. designing simple things like for example a football kit for a local team, cheerleading outfits for chicks where groups of people get together and have fun designing as opposed to the individual

newman10

Seem like you want to set up a Dressmakers/Tailoring Business. My instinct is to say dont do it.

How will the customer see the fabric, colour, style, size and how long will the process be from design to delivery.

It is very hard to judge colours on the internet, did you ever buy a red tee to find it was pink or peach

Costs will be too high factories will not make a one off piece without incurring high set up costs.

Where will the product be made

antoinolachtnai

The big practical issue is the fit. How do you make sure the clothes will actually fit?!

There are actually plenty of places on the Internet who will make whatever you want. But will it fit?

Brand, recognition, reputation, customer service are also big issues.

I think there is a business in this, and I think it would be a great business. But it is not for the faint-hearted. It is not a cheap business to start up and the product will not be cheap to make. You would certainly need to have a retail partner of some sort.

lecheile

Online clothes sales is something that the major brands have only managed to succeed with and mainly where they can offer interactions with their bricks-and-mortar stores for returns, fitting, colours etc.

A while back Ben Dunne tried to launch an online clothes shop and offered another large retailer (unconnected to his enterprise) as being available for people to judge the sizes of his clothes - he was going to match their sizes. Have not heard anything about it since, so it may not still be in existence (open to correction here)

In short, if it is very hard to get right (and make profitable) for high street mass-produced items, I'd imagine that it very hard to see how you will make it work profitably for customised, user designed pieces.

Best of luck if you give it a lash.

PCPhoto

pbody1985 wrote: »

Hey guys ,

Im looking on setting up an new business , basically i want to set up an online website to break into the fashion world , where the customer can actually design there own clothing and shapes colours sizes etc ... ive done a bit of research behind it and nobody does it ! im surprised ... also asked a few people what they thought and they said its a really good idea ... people saying they sick of going into shops and not finding things they want or not fitting them the way they want .... i just want to make fashion that bit easier .... I just dont know where to start and was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas or anything at all ???? would be most grateful .

cheers

pbody .

NOBODY DOES IT !!! .... theres plenty out there .....theres loads of clothes sites which allow you to choose a design, pattern, colour, material, style of t-shirt/shirt/jumper/hoody... I know of tailoured suit websites - which will fit you up , let you choose what style/pattern/material/cut you want to use...

as another poster said Vans do personalised runners,

I like your idea - it is possible to create your own version of this business - it will take a lot of money to get it set-up huge databases of images/models/materials..... which marketed properly could be a viable business.

if you need pics done - give me a buzz.

byrne0f56789

I think you could make it work as long as you have a clear idea of who your users will be. It will come down to how your business goes viral. As Seth Godin would say, you have to be remarkable. I don't know much about designing clothes online however I see the potential for your idea to spread on the social networks.

Imagine that you had your design app as a Facebook widget. People could design their clothes for free and post them on their profile. You would have a "buy now" button so that people could purchase their designs or other designs that they liked. You would need to do some research on what the conversion rates are likely to be but there is potential.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

The problem the way i see it is that although people would like custom made clothes, they are (a.) unlikely to pay the price which would be necessary - one off items have no economies of scale, large set up times etc and (b.) they may not be happy to wait 3/4 weeks for delivery - people are impatient.

There is a company in America that make custom jeans so if i were you i'd use that as a case study to start you off. They are insurmountable issue but will take massive capital / effort to get over.

The other problem i foresee is the distant selling act which give people the right to return the items for any reason and receive a refund. Maybe you could get around this because its their custom designs - but even still if the article does not turn out the way they imagined it (which need not have any correlation to how they designed / described it) you will suffer reputation as a result.

Not meaning to be negative ofcourse - just pointing out the challenges which is why custom designs are not more popular. Hope that helps..