5 Critical Pitfalls for Fashion Startups and Strategies for Your Success

I’ve had the privilege of working with many startups as a consultant. I’ve also started two companies from scratch and turned them into multi-million-dollar businesses, selling to top stores in the U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, not all the startups I’ve worked with had the grit and determination needed to get through those tough early years.

Trust me, until your business takes off, it will feel like you’re riding a bike uphill. Here are five reasons fashion startups often fail:

They have an idea but don’t know how to make it happen. Instead of hiring someone knowledgeable, they just ‘wing it’ and hope to figure things out as they go. This often means wasting thousands of dollars on things that bring little to no return.

The fashion industry itself isn’t particularly strong or growing. For someone to buy your product, they must buy less of someone else’s. If your product isn’t special or unique, buyers won’t be interested. While you don’t have to invent something new, you do need to offer a unique perspective to your brand.

Many times, when I ask someone who their customer is, they either don’t know or say “everyone.” You need to focus on a specific group because you can’t be everything to everyone. When you deeply understand your customer, everything from design to marketing will resonate with them.

They jump around trying different things. I’ve seen one client spend $50,000 on a fashion show in Europe without selling to any stores or having plans to do so. Others might do a single $10,000 trade show without getting any orders, not realizing that success requires participating in many shows to see results. Many try to do too many things at once and don’t consistently pursue a few targeted strategies that will eventually pay off.

A lot of startups underestimate what it takes to start and grow a business. While you don’t need millions to get started, you do need enough budget to carry you through the first few unprofitable years. Not having enough money makes success difficult, but wasting what you do have is an even bigger problem.