Bless your soul if you have a die-hard support system, clique, posse or squad, who will do anything to support you. Unfortunately, that is not sustainable when you are starting out in business. What is also not sustainable is deciding to do the exact same thing another business or competitor is doing. This is risky in that you are blindly following something and not being intentional or strategic about it and so when your competitor decides to do something else, do you do the exact same thing? Jump off a cliff? And who says it will even work out for you? Here is what I mean. 

What I Did Wrong

When I started out with my sewing business, I was not strategic about it. I was fortunate enough for my target market to make itself known to me (you have to be very observant of this) but I decided to go with what was popular and trending that everyone was doing. What was the thing I did? Trying to sell the African Print Maxi Skirts because everyone was making them and making money from them. Now don't get me wrong, those skirts are the bomb and there is absolutely nothing wrong with making and selling them. I know quite a few seamstresses who are making a killing selling them but I had no strategy and all I knew was that they were popular and people were making money. So I went ahead and started making them too. But guess what? That has been my least selling item to date. It's so bad I still have skirts that I am trying to sell. That is the biggest lesson I learned because instead of making money that is money that I spent and is just sitting there. It would hurt my heart to have to give these away after I spent time and money on them.

So back to target market, we can see that it is very important to be strategic and intentional about who your target market should be.

Who is a target market?

Your target market is the people who your product is specifically aimed towards. These are people who are guaranteed to buy from you because what you have is exactly what they are looking for. From my example, I did not have anyone I had aimed towards. I just had a product I needed to sell, and so that was the problem. Who exactly was I selling it to? How would I market it? 

Your Avatar

Your target market has to be specific. If possible create an avatar, an exact character with specific descriptions of the person that would buy your product. For example, the avatar for my African Print Maxi Skirts would have been Jane about 29 years old and loves the African culture. She is a wife and mother of 2 and usually does most of her shopping online. She has several social media handles including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and is on several Facebook groups that showcase African Print fashion and clothing. Her and her husband both work and average about $100,000 household income. They have enough money leftover to spend on whatever they want and so she spends her money on good quality clothing. She also loves to be unique and stand out.

I could hone in so much more on Jane from ethnic background to her location. But the idea is to identify and analyze your avatars spending habits and see how you can cater to that. Believe it or not, there are several Jane's out there and imagine the potential income if you could zone in on all Jane's (different names of course) and sell your product to them.

What Characteristics to look at

The characteristics to help you identify your target market are:

• Demographics - Age, gender, location, income, education level, occupation, marital status, 
• Psychographic - Personality, lifestyle, values, hobbies, attitude

Be sure to subscribe to keep up  to date with whats going on.

•  First describe what your business is. What you are offering and how you will deliver

• Describe your market. That is who you are going to sell to (target market). Here you have to be very specific about your target market. If possible create an Avatar. That exact person and story of who your ideal customer is. (more to come in a future post) How big or small is the market and what competition is currently serving that market

• look at the Habits around your product. Is it seasonal? Is it bought as a gift or can it be a household staple?

• Figure out the details on how you will deliver your product e.g.  Where will you source your material or labor. How will you ship, where exactly will your business be located and what kind of technology will you need? 

• How much will it take to start all of this, how much money do I need to start, what will my start-up costs be. When will I start to make a profit?

• Product or Service Feasibility – Do people really want your product or service

• Market Feasibility – Is this the right time for the products and is there a niche market for it

• Organization feasibility – Does the business have the right skills and resources to pull this off

• Financial feasibility – How much money you need to start, what are those starts up costs

OOOoohh the infamous UFO's. When I originally saw V9253 I pictured the perfect fabric for it. I started the project and just couldn't go on with it. I don't know what it was. I just ditched the whole thing. I eventually got back to it and here is the finished look. Of course, I had to add my own twist to it and tbh I really can't see much wear for the pattern as just a dress, so I decided to make it into a duster/ wrap dress. Fall is on its way and dusters are in, so I think I am ready. I love the versatility of this.

These were the adjustments I made
- No pockets
- Fully closed back
- Fully open front for wrap effect
- Bias binding all through the front
- Fabric used was an African Print, Wax Print

I was trying to get ready and the camera wouldn't let me be great

Trying to run to my spot LOL

Trying to run to my spot LOL

 

So you want to start a sewing business? That is great! Super exciting and scary too right? 


STRENGTHS: 

• What advantage do you have?
• What do you do well?
• What unique qualities do you have other's don't?
• What do other people recognize you do well?
• Is there something, in particular, you love to sew and you sew it well?

Ok so once you analyze everything in this framework, it gives you an overview of which direction to go, what to work on or what to abandon. This could also give you an advantage over your competitors. No use going into business blindly or trying to wing it. You want to have the best advantage to get into business and stay there. Use your strengths to maximize your opportunities and to help you tackle your weaknesses.

I hope you found this analysis helpful as you think about taking the next steps to starting your sewing business.

Please enjoy the free download for your SWOT and let me know in the comments if this helped you put things into perspective.

I can't believe I had not posted this super easy fabric flower. I find that they are quite versatile. They can be worn several ways, no sew and did I mention super easy. Enjoy the tutorial and let me know if you make these.  And if you do make them, how did you use them?