Hello! You know, starting a new clothing business is not a daunting process anymore. Helping clothing manufacturers, we can say this because we have been helping startups build their own brands. Many of you might be thinking about how to start a clothing manufacturing company, and to answer your questions and queries, we decided to cover the whole topic in detail.
Starting a clothing line business is perfect in today’s era, where we see a new clothing brand stepping into the fashion industry every week. Ever wondered who the people behind these brands are or clothing retailers? Well, they are clothing manufacturers. Being one, we can assist with everything required to start a clothing manufacturing business.
As part of this guide, we’ll also go into detail regarding how to run a clothing manufacturing business successfully and the costs involved with starting one if that is your intention. So it should prove particularly insightful if that is your interest. Just connect till the end of the blog, and we are sure you will find your way easy to set up your clothing manufacturing business.
Let’s start the comprehensive guide on how to start a clothing manufacturing business that goes to success.
Note: The guide is based on the knowledge and experience of many entrepreneurs and fashion industry experts, so it will definitely help.
Key Points & Commonly Asked Questions for How to Set Up a Clothing Manufacturing Business
People have many queries that need answering; to make things simpler for you, here are some top queries that could prove useful: –
How can I start my own cloth manufacturing business? – Should I buy or start from scratch when starting?
The process for starting your own cloth manufacturing business can be pretty simple or complicated based on which way you are going. To simplify the business, you can do business with a drop shipping manufacturer and supplier. Or you can directly work with the fabric supplier, manufacture clothes using machines, and sell them to brands and retailers. The latter process gives you a broad experience of the fashion industry as you’re directly working with the clients and is more beneficial.
Does a cloth manufacturing business require a license to work?
Yes, all legal business requires a license to work. Your business license requirements depend heavily on the region, state or country in which you operate your enterprise. In order to conduct and do business successfully in that market. You can consult a business license organization or government to get the correct details of the business information and licenses.
How much it cost to start a clothes manufacturing business?
Well, it depends on the type of setup you are doing in your clothes manufacturing business. Like it depends on
- The quantity you want to produce
- Machines that you will be used to manufacture clothes
- On which type of textile will you be working
- Which variety of printing methods will you use
- What will be the size of your factory
- What type of garment manufacturing process do you want to work on?
- Is it small-scale or large scale
The average cost to set up your clothes manufacturing business is $38,745.
You can check a detailed guide on the cost of the clothing business here.
Does the clothing business require copyrights or trademarks?
Yes, if you want that no one else steals your designs and works by your name in the clothing industry, then acquiring a copyright license and trademarks for your brand name, design and labels are essential. Moreover, if you catch someone using your designs or selling a duplicate brand under your name, you can press charges against them and gain financials from them. That’s a benefit of having a trademark.
Learn more about how to trademark a clothing brand
Can a clothing business be started with no experience?
I say, why not? All the major fashion brands once had no experience. If they can this far, then why not you? You need a good guide that makes things understandable for you and provides you with a road map to start your own clothing business.
Initially, to understand how the fashion industry works, you can advise yourself to start a clothing business by drop shopping method. By this, you will be saved from a lot of hassles and responsibilities that are pretty daunting to handle as a starter.
What is a clothing manufacturer?
First, before we move on to starting your clothes manufacturing business, you need to understand who a clothing manufacturer is and what they do.
A clothing manufacturer is responsible for manufacturing clothes according to the brands and retailers’ needs and specifications. The manufacturing process includes cutting, sewing, designing, pattern making, printing, labeling, packaging, and more. The clothes manufacturing process is further broken into several sub-steps that vary depending on your manufacturing type.
Find a clothing manufacturers for your business? Discover the top high end clothing manufacturer for your brand by visiting the link.
How does the clothing manufacturing business work?
As mentioned earlier, the clothing manufacturing process is divided into a couple of stages which are further divided into a couple of sub-stages. Here are the stages of the clothing manufacturing business,
- Pre-production stage: Here, the pattern making and fabric sourcing are done
- Planning: This stage includes the foresees of production and making of the proper timeline of activities in the manufacturing process.
- Cutting: here, the fabrics are cut into patterns by using the size guidelines that designers provide in the form of a tech pack ( A graphical technical document that mentions all the sizing, features, design, and fabric details)
- Quality assurance: After the products are manufactured, they are sent to the quality assurance department, where they are being checked whether they are according to the quality required or not. If they are not, they’re sent for reproduction.
- Delivery: After the production completes and if they are according to the customer’s needs, they are sent to the customer.
How to Start a Clothing Manufacturing Business
So now that we are clear on what is a clothing manufacturer is and how they work in the clothing industry, we are safe to move and discover how to start a fashion manufacturing business. So, let’s dive in. Here are the important steps for creating clothes manufacturing business.
Research the Niche
There are many opportunities in the clothing business, so first, you need to brainstorm and research the opportunities and gaps in the fashion industry. In this research, you need to find the customers’ pain points and gaps in the market that you can fulfill by bringing your own innovative solution. Its simple anything that makes customers’ life easy will sell.
So it is essential that you find one niche you can start in, one which best suits you and your abilities, where quality products can be manufactured and sold at a competitive price point. Competition exists in every aspect of life; therefore you need to stay one step ahead. You can do so by producing high-quality clothing at competitive prices or lower than the market (that’s one best technique to increase your brand visibility and gain consumer attention initially.)
Study the Trends
The trends are essential elements in the fashion industry and can make or break your clothing business. Consumers are willing to spend more and more on the current trends in the fashion industry, so to be ahead in the industry, you need to understand the trends and then work on them before any particular line runs out of trend.
Like in recent years, there was a great trend in sports apparel and yoga wear, and we observed a lot of brands working on the athletic line and sports apparel. So you can also start off with any clothing lines you think have a chance of becoming a trend in the coming years. For this, you need to study the demographics and customer buying behavior to understand better the customer’s pain points of the customer, like what made them buy any particular product and what qualities consumers are looking for.
Know the Garment Manufacturing Industry
Before you step into any business, it’s very essential to know the industry, how it works, and the process involved in it. Likewise, you will first have to learn about the garment manufacturing industry. Practical knowledge about the industry and its process is way more beneficial than reading information from the Internet.
Suppose you start a business in T-shirt manufacturing. Then you should be acquired with knowledge about how the fabrics of T-Shirts are assembled and how they are manufactured, what are the process of shirt manufacturing is, and what are the prerequisites and requirements of raw materials in the manufacturing.
The best approach is to have a project report in which you record and measure all the steps needed to manufacture a T-shirt. And then, you should have your first project done; during the project, you will get the experience of the actual methods used for manufacturing T-shirts. Moreover, you will also come across a number of problems that will help you understand the process more efficiently.
Finding the Location to Set Up Your Factory
You might already have a place where you will be setting up your manufacturing factory. You need to have a space where you can produce clothes peacefully and utilize the space to the fullest by having the space on rent or by buying it.
As you will be working as a whole factory or industry, so it’s better to have your factory set up in an industrial zone. By setting up a factory in an industry, you will have an advantage of an easy accessibility of supplies. Moreover, there are more chances of getting skillful labor in the industrial zone.
Most of these international and more prominent brands have their manufacturing setup in the industrial zone, so it increases your chances of growing.
Know Your Requirements
First of all, you need to know your requirements, because you will set up your whole factory according to them. If you are working in any particular niche production, then you will need to have the required machines and skillful labor for that. Another thing that you should focus on the daily amount of manufacturing, like what’s the total amount of T-shirts, trousers, or any other clothing product you will manufacture.
In simple words, you will need an estimation of numbers or forecast of your production. You will need to plan your plant according to it. Like you need to arrange machines, workforce, labor, and departments according to the number.
For example, if you will be manufacturing 4000 T-shirts in a month, then you will need to invest according to the numbers.
Build Contacts with Fabric Supplier
As a manufacturer, you will be sourcing fabrics to manufacture clothing lines, and there are different types of fabrics used in the clothing line. So you will need to connect with a clothing fabric suppliers who can provide you with various kinds of fabric so that you can cater to your customer’s needs.
Connecting a diverse fabric supplier should be an integral part of your plan. When you are in the market, different brands, consumers, and retailers will contact you to manufacture clothing lines for them, and there are 98% chances that all of them will require different fabrics. For example, some might ask you to manufacture a T-shirt of polyester material, or some sportswear brands can ask you to create a jersey of spandex material or knit fabric, so you will need to source the fabric according to your consumer requirements.
Build an Online Presence
It makes no sense to do business without the Internet in today’s era. All of the business and the whole fashion industry is highly dependent on the Internet. The Internet is the main platform that bridges the gap between consumers and the fashion industry. So having your own website and marking your presence is an important step.
You can mark your online presence by setting up your online store (website), which shows your catalogue, and the brands you have worked with. This creates a good impression on your other brands and attracts an audience. Having a minimalistic website is the trend nowadays, so you should have a website that tells a good story and attract the audience to have a look at what you are offerings.
The visitors you are targeting should be able to visit your website and recognize you as a clothing manufacturer as soon as they enter your website. Here are some best ways to ensure an effective web presence
- Create your logo and set a slogan
- Write sales copy that sets in your consumers’ minds, target their emotions, and wins their trust by it.
- Let your consumers know what you can offer and how it can solve their problems.
- Display your catalog and let them know what you can manufacture.
- Have a reviews page where they can read your previous customer’s reviews.
- Keep it simple and minimal.
Create a Business Plan
This is the part most brands and startups miss and don’t work on, not realizing how important a business plan is and how it makes your business grow. After completing the basics of your cloth manufacturing business, you should work on your business plan.
Your clothing line business plan will serve as a guide to setting up your clothing business. Your business plan can include your company goal, vision, mission statement, and more. Your business plan should describe your intended methods of operation, your marketing and partner strategies and any key sections you should include in it. Here are some essential sections you must include.
Key points to have in the business plan
- Executive summary
- Goals
- Mission statement
- Vision
- Factory location
- Business Entity
- Financials projections
- Investment costs
- Marketing plans
- Target audience
- Legal documents
- Market analysis
- And other supporting material
We have written a well-defined guideline on a business plan, have a look at it here: Clothing line business plan.
Make a Marketing Plan
Marketing is key to success when you are doing business online, especially in the fashion industry, because countless people are interested in fashion. So to create a brand voice and increase your brand visibility, you will first need to market your brand through marketing platforms. The social media marketing is the best platform to spread the word and take your brand to the consumers.
You can choose any or both traditional and hybrid marketing to showcase your brand like you can create TV ads, billboards, flyers, or use social media marketing (the best way.) Moreover, another great digital marketing tool you have is the SEO services that can help you promote your cloth manufacturing brand.
Expand your selling channels
The best thing about the Internet is that its too wide to explore. You can easily have access over to another corner of the globe easily. So apart from your website, you can offer your services in different marketplaces like Amazon, Alibaba, and more.
These marketplaces are widespread platforms where consumers and brand search for services and offers, so you can easily get more sales and grow your business through these websites. You can list your products offerings, and attracts customers. Moreover, these are the golden platform to generate B2B sales. You can connect with retailers and businesses directly.
And it is done. This is how you can start a clothing manufacturing business in an easy way.
The most important factor
Identify the demand in the market
The first rule for your business should be to sell the most demanding products trending in the market. This helps you cater to the most number of consumers band. The current trends that are often difficult to spot in the market and customer demands for such products are increasing day by day. For example, the trend of custom T-shirts is increasing daily, and customers love the idea of T-shit being designed for them specifically with their favorite character, film dialogue, or name over it.
The USA fashion industry is wide and highly competitive; different brands offer creative T-shirts to the customers, making a cutthroat competition for you. Being a startup, you have an excellent opportunity to offer the same high quality trending clothes to the customer with lower profit margins initially. However, you can increase profit margins once your clothing brand is famous in the fashion industry.
Supplying the target audience per their demands is one of the best techniques for effective business. Also, you can introduce something new or work on different clothing niches with innovative designs and high-quality fabrics. Finally, try to offer something unique that isn’t readily available to the customer, which will create a sense of exclusivity to your brand.
Key Points on How to Start a Clothing Manufacturing Business
There are a vast number of options that you can choose from when it comes to apparel manufacturing and the fashion industry. However, if you are someone who wants to start your clothes manufacturing business or if you are Finding a clothing manufacturer for your business, then you don’t need to search more. This blog has discussed all the pointers you should need when starting your own clothing manufacturing business.
Furthermore, here are some key points that you should remember:
- Pricing:
- Picking a Unique Niche
- Your brand
- Invest in the suitable machines
Wrapping up
Are you starting your own business clothes manufacturing? Our best wishes are with you, but there are uncountable things that you must look for when you are starting your own clothes manufacturing business. Starting can be hectic for you but with the right guide, confidence, patience, and dedication. Moreover, marketing and promotion for your brand are must-have tools when you are in the fashion industry.
You can target businesses or direct end clients for the production of custom clothing lines. In today’s era, the e-commerce industry is booming all around the globe, so you shouldn’t forget to set up a website for and sell your services online all around the globe. Moreover, you can also sell your designs online.
