Business planning
Introduction
At first clothes were probably made just to protect people from the cold. But men and women soon wanted their clothes to be more than practical, they wanted them to be beautiful too, this is were "Freelance Fashion Designers" come in, they design clothes that suit you and your needs. The more advanced a society became, the more attention that was paid to the manner of dressing.
The modern fashion business, from the design room to the store window, is one of the busiest, most imaginative and glamorous things in the world, and I hope to start my business off as a freelance fashion designer and become one of the worlds top ten fashion designers for teens. This is what I hope to do for my business planning coursework.
We are eager to set up a shop in a region were people will actually buy our product and were we no we will be able to sell our products and were there aren't any competitors. As well as selling our products to customers we will be also selling our designs to clothing manufacturing company, a wholesaler or a retailer.
we would like to achieve the following objectives for our business:
> Growth, expanding the business
> Reducing debts, if any in the future
> Beating competitors
> Offering Verity of choices
> Increase in market shares
> To become a leading fashion outlet
The business will differ from my competitors, as it would have a much wider range of choices in clothing for both girls and boys, so it is not bias's.
we have decided to rent out a store and set it up close to, Greenwich, the reason we have chosen Greenwich is because there Greenwich lacks in retail within the area, the area is known for Greenwich university and is a well known tourist attraction due to the cutty Sark and the Greenwich pier. As its close to the university it's likely to attract students as well as tourists.
the cost of renting out our store is
Pest and Swot analysis
A PEST analysis is also sometimes called STEP, STEEP or PESTLE analysis. It looks at the external business environment. Pest stands for:
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
These are all elements that may have an effect on our future business.
Political factors - can have a direct impact on the way the business operates. Political factors also include issues that affect your product line. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You may need ...
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Pest and Swot analysis
A PEST analysis is also sometimes called STEP, STEEP or PESTLE analysis. It looks at the external business environment. Pest stands for:
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
These are all elements that may have an effect on our future business.
Political factors - can have a direct impact on the way the business operates. Political factors also include issues that affect your product line. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You may need to consider issues such as:
* How stable the political environment is
* Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business
* What is the government's position on marketing ethics
* What is the government's policy on the economy
* Does the government have a view on culture and religion
Influences might include:
* Change in tax structure
* Privatization
* Trade union
* Changes in availability of raw materials
* Duties and levies
* Regulatory constraints, such as labeling, quality, safety
Economic factors - include current financial forces on your target market.
Influenced by ( domestic economic policies
( World economic trends
( Growth
( Inflation
( Consumption patterns
( Income distribution
Influences might include:
* Inflation
* Unemployment
* Energy prices
* Price volatility (could suddenly change)
Social factors - include changes in social trends, fads, or demographic groups as they affect your target market and its current opinions. This could include changes in shopping habits, such as the increase in online shopping or the super-mall trend. It could also include the aging of your current target market, or the population increases in the over-50 group.
Factors might include:
* Consumer lifestyles
* Environmental issues
* Demographical issues
* Education
* Immigration
* Religion
Technology factors - include everything that affects your product, its market, or information-gathering efforts of your market that come as a result of changes in technology.
Factors might include:
* New technological process
* Energy saving techniques
* New materials/substitutes for existing materials
* Better equipment
* New product development
Legal - licences laws
Enviriomental - curlty to animals as clothes made of lathers or fur. Fair trade.
Our business is a partnership. A partnership is a type of business where partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which all have invested. a partnership is a contract between individuals who, in a spirit of cooperation, agree to carry on an enterprise, contribute to it, by combining property, knowledge or activities and to share its profit. Partners may have a partnership agreement, or declaration of partnership and in some jurisdictions such agreements may be registered and available for public inspection. In many countries, a partnership is also considered to be a legal entity, although different legal systems reach different conclusions on this point.
Partnerships are often favored over corporations for taxation purposes, as a partnership structure eliminates the dividend tax levied upon profits realized by the owners of a corporation.
The most basic form of partnership is a general partnership, in which all partners manage the business and are personally liable for its debts.
Market Analysis
The first task for a designer is to research the market thoroughly, this will help in deciding whom to sell to. New lines are created twice, four times or six times a year. Children's and menswear normally have two a year, spring/summer, autumn/winter.
Attending a trade show relevant to the sector in which I am planning to work in can assess current market trends.
Top designers exhibit their latest collections at London fashion week. Many high street names exhibit at clothes show live and this enables new designers to make personal contact with potential customers.
Fashion design is a highly competitive field, with hundreds of new designers entering the market each year, form overseas aswell as home-grown talent. As well as competing against other freelance designers it will be important to offer different styles and skills from in-house company designers.
Competition is extreme, profit margins are tight and finding clients is tough. Freelance fashion designers have to have the ability to sell themselves and get paid, and also build and maintain networks, predict more trends and maintain customer confidence.
The fashion industry is dynamic, undergoing continual change, and therefore the ability to forecast future trends and preferences is vital. In fact, designers may have to forecast at least two years ahead.
I've decided to make a questionnaire for my market analysis so that I could use the information, such as types of clothing teens like, were they shop, ect
QUESTIONNAIRE
I am currently studying business, for my coursework I have to research. I need to find out the customers views. I would be grateful if you would fill in this questionnaire.
. Age?
. Under 15 [ ] 2. 15-21 [ ] 3. 22-29 [ ] 4. 30-39 [ ]
5. 40-49 [ ] 6. 50-59 [ ] 7. 60+ [ ]
2. Gender?
. Male [ ] 2. Female [ ]
3. Occupation?
. Unemployed [ ] 2. Employed [ ] 3. Student [ ]
4. Retired [ ] 5. Other [ ]
4. Do you buy designer clothes?
.Yes [ ] 2. No [ ]
5. If there were a new brand out would you buy it?
.Yes [ ] 2. No [ ]
6. How much do you spend when shopping for clothes?
. £10 - £30 [ ] 2. £35 - £50 [ ] 3. £55 - £70 [ ]
4. £75 - £90 [ ] 5. £100+ [ ]
7. Where do you usually shop?
. Local [ ] 2. City [ ] 3. Lakeside [ ]
4. Blue waters [ ] 5. Other...............................................................
8. Which of the following stores do you purchase from?
. Top shop [ ] 2. D2 [ ] 3. New look [ ]
4. Young look [ ] 5. JJB [ ] 6. Jd sports
7. Other.............................................
9. Were do you live?
. Seven kings [ ] 2. Goodmays [ ] 3. Ilford [ ]
4. Romford [ ] 5. Other (please state) .........................................................
0. How much do you spend per item?
. £5 - £20 [ ] 2. £20 - £40 [ ] 3. £40 - £80 [ ]
4. £80+ [ ]
70% of the people I asked were aged from 19 - 21, 30% of the people I asked were aged under 15. I have decided that my target audience will be aged from 15-21.
Most people that I asked were mainly female, around 70% were female and 30% male. I have decided that I am not going to just target it towards females, ive decided to target it towards male and female so it wont be bias
Out of all the people I asked 20% were unemployed and 80% are students
Out of all the people I asked 55% said that they mainly wear designer clothes and 45% don't
Most people I asked said that they prefer shopping in central London and then followed lakeside and locally
I asked people if there was a new brand out would they buy it 67% of them said that yes they would and 33% said no they wouldn't.
Out of all the people I asked most of then shop at young look which is a girls retail store, the followed top shop, D2, JJB
From my results I see that most people asked live in seven kings, which shows me that this would be perfect to open my shop.
Most people spend between 20-40 pound, this shows me that my per item price should be in that range,
