Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$5,600

$20,400

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$11,650

Inventory Expenses

$350

$14,750

Software Expenses

$162

$3,094

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$9,936

Total Startup Costs

$7,811

$74,397

StartUp FASHION

startupfashion.com

157,148

Nasty Gal

nastygal.com/

721,948

Scotland Kilt Co

thescotlandkiltcompany.co.uk

1,355,866

French Fashion Corner

frenchfashioncorner.com

1,442,753

LilKong Brand

lilkongbrand.com

2,841,422

Hera Closet

heracloset.com

3,093,101

NICHE Magazine

niche.style

3,137,103

Coddies

coddies.com

3,306,491

Ahwenepa

ahwenepa.com

3,853,133

Fabric Incubator

fabrictempe.com

4,431,392

Glam Brand Agency

theglambrandagency.com

5,707,675

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a niche fashion business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 11 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

Easy to encourage "impulse buy"

In the niche fashion business, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer.

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your niche fashion business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Finding The Right Supplier

Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section.

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

High employee turnover

In the niche fashion business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

High overhead expenses

With starting a niche fashion business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.