Looking for Advice On Starting a Clothing Company

[l corpse 1]

Hi all, I'm bored and kind of lost at the moment, and I thought maybe someone here could assist me:

Basically, I'm looking to start a clothing company from my home, I've listed all the equipment and supplies I'll need, researched proper technique and watched a bazillion-and-three how-to videos for the screen printing process. Now I have nothing to do for the next several weeks as money is tight and I'll be saving the money I get from various paychecks to fund my company start-up.

What can I do in the in-between time while I'm saving money? I downloaded a guide to starting a small business off of my state's .gov website and it's been really helpful, I just feel that I'll be wasting valuable time that could help my company before it's started while I'm waiting to be able to buy materials and actually begin the process of starting and running a small business.

Feel free to ask me questions if something wasn't explained well or just general information questions about myself and my company. Any insight as to what I should go about doing next, what I should have done already, and/or what I'll need to do in the future would be the greatest of help, thanks!

[Sneakylemons]

I don't really think this is the right place for this topic lol, just sayin'

[Narudan]

First, [Tag] the thread.
Second, what do you want from us, we are the gfx section.
I could tell you if your design is good but you haven't told us what you are doing. Are you
going to knit underwear with your logo on it or just print stuff on tshirts?

You should have a cool website and some good designs to start off, though. Work on that, you'll have plenty to do

[l corpse 1]

First, [Tag] the thread.
Second, what do you want from us, we are the gfx section.
I could tell you if your design is good but you haven't told us what you are doing. Are you
going to knit underwear with your logo on it or just print stuff on tshirts?

You should have a cool website and some good designs to start off, though. Work on that, you'll have plenty to do

My reasons for posting in this section was the general, naive thought-process consisting of: People who like art? Maybe someone has done t-shirts!

Thanks for replying, wasn't sure if I was going to get any feedback at all.

As for your advice given, yes, I've been looking at making a website for my company, I've dabbled into coding one myself but I don't think that's the road I'm willing to take unless I get some real classes in that field. I suppose I could look towards buying a domain name and using templates. I've looked for the specific domain I want and it appears I can only buy through the GoDaddy.com site, which is unfortunate, but it'll be worth it in the long run. (Not well-versed in web design and the like so, question: Where would I look for templates that suit my needs?)
I'm afraid to add too many designs to a site though, due to the fact that I am shorthanded on money, which means that I have less funding for stock. The more designs I have at any given time, the more unused stock I have sitting around wasting my money, but you could argue that a larger consumer-base would be satisfied by having more designs, so more would sell.

Finally, if I need to move this to the more general forums, I will, someone just has to say so. Just trying to get advice from wherever possible.

Edit: I will be screen printing on shirts that I buy from wholesale vendors.

[Narudan]

Can't you print the clothing by demand?

[Vindicated]

1. Unless it is wholesale, but good quality clothing, don't start. People still buy cheap. If you are looking for a niche then you will need lots of advertising towards those types of people.

2. You aren't wasting time. I used to work for a gym (not anymore) that failed to properly plan and have everything set up. Their business boomed, and they weren't prepared to handle the inflow. That led to bad customer service and the gym ended up going out of business.

3. If you are serious about your clothing brand, you will have some start up capitol (I assume you do). Spend anywhere from $500-$2,500 (at least) for a simple, easy to navigate site that works and is secure. Because you won't have a store, your website IS your store. I don't want to buy clothing off some crappy site; it leads me to believe the clothing itself is crappy.

4. Make sure that you follow all business laws and file for an LLC or some other form of business. I would recommend hiring a finance attorney

[l corpse 1]

1. Unless it is wholesale, but good quality clothing, don't start. People still buy cheap. If you are looking for a niche then you will need lots of advertising towards those types of people.

2. You aren't wasting time. I used to work for a gym (not anymore) that failed to properly plan and have everything set up. Their business boomed, and they weren't prepared to handle the inflow. That led to bad customer service and the gym ended up going out of business.

3. If you are serious about your clothing brand, you will have some start up capitol (I assume you do). Spend anywhere from $500-$2,500 (at least) for a simple, easy to navigate site that works and is secure. Because you won't have a store, your website IS your store. I don't want to buy clothing off some crappy site; it leads me to believe the clothing itself is crappy.

4. Make sure that you follow all business laws and file for an LLC or some other form of business. I would recommend hiring a finance attorney

Edit: +2 Rep to Vindi

Clothing quality meets both of those criteria, buying the domains for my website soon. Will definitely see into making sure my site is complete and not rushed or half-***ed. Still in the process of filling out applications and meeting business regulations, thanks Vindicated!

Filling out copyright application here soon, then I'll be comfortable posting the logo for critiques.

[Narudan]

What is a copyright application and why would you need one? As far as I understood you have have automatic Copyright in most states

[Remus3]

I personally created my company via legalzoom and they handle all state documents and fillings (100$ for legalzoom to handle the paperwork to start, then state fee's for filing an LLC period: is anywhere from 250-600$ dependent on state.(150$ yearly renewal after purchase and clearance with your state). From what I know, and never delved into too much.. is that the Creative Commons License will work fine on artwork for anything, this is a free copyright claim that as long as you have dates and images associated directly.... you can bring wrong doers to small claims court and fine the bastard for stealing shiz.

* Creative Commons

[Narudan]

So I googled that - You have Copyright but in the US you need to register and pay for it if you actually want to claim it against another person. Stupid system IMO.
Creative Commons looks like the better alternative

[Kitinsutt]

Eh I am Jane.
I don't have any refined taste and all I know is what clothes I like on people. I do take interest in people's looks in and outside the bedroom unlike other males I know.

[Kitinsutt]

Gosh i didn't know that it would be like this ;-;
Thanks guys *pull apart* ;
crafty stuff - pretty adroit [/url]
wow, our HL unit has grown nice-looking great =).I went to a Carnival on Saturday sundown and wore my baneful HL dress
I bought most of my Karen Millen dresses from this store: Herve Leger

[Remahlól]

My suggestion for your cloth company- don't lol
sorry BRO

[Kubiatsu]

First of what's so special about your clothing, and why would people want to buy it? Are you just going to print vector logos/graphics onto t-shirts, because people just buy stuff like that from Threadless, as the public are able to submit their own designs and get them printed for cash if they are good enough, perhaps that's maybe an option for you? Unless you have a real brand/style/niche going I wouldn't suggest bothering.

[l corpse 1]

First of what's so special about your clothing, and why would people want to buy it? Are you just going to print vector logos/graphics onto t-shirts, because people just buy stuff like that from Threadless, as the public are able to submit their own designs and get them printed for cash if they are good enough, perhaps that's maybe an option for you? Unless you have a real brand/style/niche going I wouldn't suggest bothering.

Yes, I'm specifically targetting boarding sports (Skating & Snowboarding) and gamers, since more often than not, people that do these sports enjoy video games of some kind during their normal day. And it's not going to be just t-shirts, in the beginning, yeah, it's gonna be mostly t-shirts, but later on down the road we'll have a much more widespread product line.