Many of the first time fashion entreprenurs do not realize how complex the entire life cycle of each design. Sure its really fun and creative to think about the actual design and how you want it to look and feel. However the real work begins after you decided on the design. Each design must go through its life cycle to get ready to sell. Each part is equally important to the whole picture. At any phase if something does not go right, then you cannot move to the next steps. The bulk of time that is needed is during phase 4, production management. This is the most critical part to make sure all the hard work you put into the design comes out how you envisioned. After you reach phase 4, the cycle begins again for any new product. You can gain some efficiencies if you are using repeat materials, designs or working with same vendors.
For each of the phase, do your homework on what is exactly is involved and work with industry experts to guide you to mitigate risks and move things smoothly as possible. This is not something to be taken lightly and create shortcuts on your own. Every brand have stories of production nightmares of their own.
As brands grow, you will need to have clear process systems to mange multi products at the same time. I have personally have gone through millions of products going through this cycle at the same time with different calendar for each product. If you need support in managing or coaching in handling these areas of your business, send me a message!
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