A fashion retail business is a fickle one. The industry is notorious for changing from one season to the next with trends shifting and influencing what consumers want.
It takes a lot of hard work and continuous researching of future trends to know what it is that your customers will want in the next season. Because of this, you need to be passionate about what you are doing.
Finding the right business to buy is an important first step to creating the perfect fashion retail business.
Sector overview
- Online sales account for a quarter of clothing sales in the UK.
- The clothing retail industry has an annual revenue of £43bn.
- Over the next five years, the industry is predicted to grow to £51.2bn.
Find the Right Business
Being clear about your needs is the best way to know what kind of business you should buy.
Creating a clear and thorough business plan will force you to research and understand the market and gain extensive knowledge of what is required in order to be successful in this industry.
Although you will be able to change the branding of the business once you buy it, consider what kind of reputation it has and whether this will affect you when you take it over.
The location of your fashion retail business is important. An area with high footfall is a real advantage. Even if you have a great marketing campaign and a good online presence, having people walking past your business is invaluable.
Things to Consider
Make sure that retail is something that you are cut out for. There are often long hours and you will probably work weekends and holidays.
It is also a fickle and competitive industry and so having experience in it will be to your advantage. More importantly, being passionate about it a must.
Keeping abreast of trends and this is what will drive your business to be successful.
Having an online presence has become a necessity and so be prepared to get stuck in with all things social media!
One of your biggest expenses will be buying stock for your business especially seeing that clothing styles and choices change with the season. It is possible to keep less stock by allowing customers to buy from your business online.
Having both a brick-and-mortar store and an online portion to your shop ensures that you can have the best of both worlds. This can also expand your customer base and give your customers a seamless online to offline experience.
Before you Buy
It is better not to try and appeal to as wide of a range of people as you can. This can be expensive, and you risk not being able to connect with your customers. It is better to find a niche and do that well.
When you are looking for the right business to buy, think about how the location and the layout of the shop will add to the niche market that you will be aiming for.
You should have done as much market research as possible so that you know where the location of your shop will be in order to get a decent amount of foot traffic.
Understanding your market and how this relates to the brand that you are creating is important from day one of buying the right business. Keeping your mind clear about what you are going to be doing and why will keep your brand focused and relevant to the right people.