The Lingerie start-up’s most common mistake is not investing monies into a strong team structure from day one. Many lingerie start-ups feel that taking on experienced industry professionals in the early days is far too expensive and opt to employ inexperienced interns and graduates instead. Whilst these might demonstrate boundless excitement, passion, drive and enthusiasm, it will never make up for experience.
Invest in a lingerie business and product consultant
Let’s be clear, a start-up structure doesn’t have to include a team of full time high-salaried employees as often the budget simply doesn’t allow this kind of investment. It’s often wiser to select a business /product consultant who can offer decades of Industry specific expertise on a daily fee or a part time mentoring program. Spending money here in the early days will save time and money in the longer term simply by not making expensive mistakes in the early days. We’ve seen this happen time after time.
Guidance and support from a lingerie business consultant can get you on the right path early on
Experience and seniority are frequently wrongly seen as too expensive, but I can’t stress enough how important it is set a company on the right path initially, with a strong structure. A business product consultant will enable the business to succeed and proceed to the next level much more effectively. They will provide the guidance and support to the team and the much-needed mentoring to the founder/ business owner.
Ensure you have a broad range of talents in your lingerie start-up including finance expertise
Entrepreneurs rarely have all the talents needed to manage all aspects of a start-up from the outset. Often, it’s the finances that are not understood, let alone controlled or planned from day one. Taking control of budgets and finances should start at the point of initial business planning, as you can’t plan a business without understanding the numbers in the early stages.
Lingerie design ideas and range planning are the fun parts
Once design ideas (usually the most exciting and enjoyable part of any start up business) are on paper, range planning (size curves, ratio of basics to fashion colours, what is core etc, takes place. Then comes a merchandising strategy, sales forecast, pricing structure along with the critical path and production planning. There is so much behind the scenes work that has to be considered and implemented and there is a process that can’t be guessed or ignored. This is where the experienced people come into play and earn their money.
Getting your lingerie start-up going should be based on tried and tested business methods
They’ll be no decisions based on a whim, a gut feeling or anecdotal information. It has to be tried and tested formulas and years of solid experience that drive the decisions. There will still be mistakes and errors as there are with the most experienced, professional teams in the biggest of businesses, but an experienced team will recognise and manage mistakes quickly and efficiently. They will ensure that the least damage is done and additional costs don’t severely impact the business.
There will always be lessons to learn
Pia Harpur founder of Studio Pia put it beautifully when she said “hire the right people as soon as you can. learn quickly from the best as you don’t know what you don’t know, so find people who do”
Once the ranges have been made and you start selling, be it at wholesale or retail, what’s sold and not sold, too much or too little, this is where the analysis now begins. Lessons can be learnt and adjustments made for the future. There are many hurdles, pit falls & mine fields for an inexperienced team to deal with & navigate, so invest in an experienced team early and enjoy a much smoother, quicker road to success.
IAC also offer a recruitment service for lingerie staff and professionals.
|Claire Franks, Intimate Apparel Consultancy