As much as you want to do everything for your clothing business and make sure that everything is perfect, you are still human, and you will eventually get tired of doing things alone. Sooner or later, you’ll need the help of other people in your business. Seeking help doesn’t mean that you are weak. It just means that you want the best for your company and having other professionals who specialize in various areas of the business can help you be one step closer to your goals.
However, this doesn’t mean that you have to hire a hundred employees right away. As a clothing startup, you can begin your operations with only 10 to 20 people in your team. The key is to know who to hire for your business. Here is a list of the most important people that you need to work within your company.
1. The Project Manager
If you think that a clothing business is easy, you are mistaken. This kind of business is not just about making new dresses or clothes and selling them to the public. There is a long process before a piece of clothing is finished and delivered to the store. If you try to do this long process alone, it will take you forever before you can complete the first batch of your clients’ orders. But don’t worry now because there is someone who can remove a significant amount of burden off your shoulders, and that is called a project manager.
Your project manager is a lot like your assistant. He or she is one of the people that you can trust. This person knows how to communicate well with your staff. Hiring a project manager takes off the daunting task of emailing everyone yourself about their responsibilities and setting the schedule for everything that needs to get done for your business. Now, this means that you’ll have more time in your hands and more energy for other more important tasks like thinking of great business ideas.
2. The Marketing Professional
Marketing is a vital part of your business. Having an effective marketing strategy for your business will give you more customers. However, doing it wrong can also damage your business. One of the biggest mistakes of business owners today is that they underestimate the power of good marketing. They think that it’s simple and they can do everything by themselves. As a result, they miss the benefits of having a marketing strategy that is made by a real professional.
Your marketing strategy shouldn’t just end once you are finished making your social media page or once you are done giving away hundreds of flyers to people. That is why you should hire a marketing representative who will help you build marketing campaigns and carry it out for your business. There are millions of clothing businesses in the world, and it’s going to be difficult to stand out if you don’t know how to market yourself to your target audience. So stop wasting your time and money on marketing styles that won’t work, and start investing in real and effective campaigns that can be brought by your marketing representative.
3. Store Assistants
Packaging, sending invoices to customers, sending parcels to your clients, and answering questions of customers maybe some of the simplest tasks in your business, but these are still taking a lot of your time and energy. If you try to do even these things in your business, you might lose sight of more important tasks that need your attention.
To be more efficient, you can hire store assistants. These people will help you with small and important tasks in the business. They can be in charge of checking the stocks in your store, operating the cash register, and assisting customers when they walk in the store. Now you might be thinking, “But what if my store operates online?”
Having an online store doesn’t mean everything is a lot easier for you. You still have to talk to your customers, answer queries, and process orders. Hiring an assistant will make your business more efficient, and you will be able to serve your customers even better. If you are a small startup or an online store, you can hire 1-2 assistants. But if you want to run a physical store, 3-5 assistants might be needed to take care of your shop.
4. Manufacturers
Technically, you can’t hire a manufacturing company. However, they are still one of the most important people that you need to work with for your designs to come to life. Without the help of a good manufacturer, your designs will stay as sketches, and you won’t be able to show off your masterpieces to the world.
Sure you can produce the clothes on your own by hiring your seamstress. However, doing this would be expensive for you especially if you are still starting your business. If you try to produce the clothes on your own, you’d have to hire more people to make enough stocks. That is why getting a manufacturer is a wiser move for those who are still new to the clothing business.
You might be hesitant about getting a manufacturer for your business. There are a lot of companies who will offer you their help. Some of these companies might even offer you low prices for their services. These things might confuse you and hold you back from finding a good manufacturer to collaborate with. Yes, finding a great manufacturing company might be challenging at first, but it is worth all the hassle. Working with manufacturers will give you the opportunity to learn from these professionals as well. Most probably, they have been in the industry longer than you have been. If you maintain a good relationship with them, you will learn the secrets of doing your business last in this highly competitive industry.
Having a clothing business is exciting, but it would be even more fun and fulfilling when you are working with the right people. So start evaluating your business now, and begin hiring for people who will help you succeed.