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Thread: Business owners of SW

  1. #1
    God/dess anouk.oui's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Business owners of SW

    i believe my other thread was too narrowed down to fashion

    http://forum.stripperweb.com/showthread.php?t=155563

    how many of you on here have started or thinking of starting your own business?
    i keep searching the interwebz for similar advice but nothing like student / stripper turned business owner anywhere.
    so lets talk business!

    [did u get a loan, how did you set up, market, juggle other commitments etc]

    xx
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  2. #2
    God/dess rickdugan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    As someone who owns two active businesses, both started from scratch, I'd be happy to share a little with you.

    First off, your biggest issue is obviously money. Most small businesses go a while before they are profitable, so there is more money going out ther door than coming in. You need to have enough capital to buy supplies, pay for marketing and pay all of your other business and living expenses for at least several months. It takes time for a business to gain acceptance and generate buzz.

    Also, as you are going to be in the fashion business, who is going to manufacture the clothes for you and how are you going to finance it? There is usualy a lag between the time that goods are delivered and the time that a business owner gets paid.

    I was fortunate enough to have saved up capital, but this doesn't sound like your situation. Now I suppose you could dance at night while trying to get your business off the ground during the day, but for most businesses to take off they need round-the-clock commitment from the owner.

    Perhaps you could find a few investors?

    The second biggest issue is knowing your market and sales channels. What types of clothes do you intend to design and who are they targeted to? Do you think that your fashion ideas will have wide appeal? Which stores serve your target market? Can you break into the purchasing departments of those stores? You will need to do a lot of research to figure these things out, and the answers may very well help you determine whether you do this in the first place.

    Anyway, this is the start and just my

    Good luck!
    Last edited by rickdugan; 05-31-2011 at 08:48 PM.

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  4. #3
    God/dess anouk.oui's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    thanks! im positive about my niche market, a lot of people i know in the alternative scene addressed the issue [many of them are boutique owners who are excited to stock me once im ready]. i would say im more concerned about the money. what is a good amount to start with? is there like a formula for it [eg. have anything to do with number of orders, possible profit, labour]?
    im prepared to ask a lot of stupid questions to ensure no mistakes are made. my mum is really against me taking out a loan
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    God/dess rickdugan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    Quote Originally Posted by anouk.oui View Post
    thanks! im positive about my niche market, a lot of people i know in the alternative scene addressed the issue [many of them are boutique owners who are excited to stock me once im ready]. i would say im more concerned about the money. what is a good amount to start with? is there like a formula for it [eg. have anything to do with number of orders, possible profit, labour]?
    im prepared to ask a lot of stupid questions to ensure no mistakes are made. my mum is really against me taking out a loan
    There is no such thing as a stupid question except the one not asked.

    Also, unless your mum is going to be running your business, she doesn't get a vote. Everyone is a critic and most people with a dream of owning a business hear lots of crap from naysayers. You need to stay strong and be absolutely convinced that you are doing the right thing, or else you will not succeed.

    In terms of what you need to start with, the answer is that you need to draw up a realistic budget. How much can you sell your stuff for and can you produce it at a cost which will provide you with a profit? How much will you need to live while these goods are being produced? How much will you need to spend to deliver first run orders to the stores and how long will it take before they pay you? You will need to do some research and have answers to all of these questions in order to determine how much $$$ you will need to get started. You should build your budget month-by-month and, once you have laid out the cash flows, you will realize that you will spend a lot before the first dollar comes in the door.

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  7. #5
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    Total agreement with RickDugan that in today's economic climate the biggest obstacle to formation of a new small business ... and particularly a new small business that is in any way related to the adult sector ... is access to capital.

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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    It's not just the adult world where bank financing is difficult. It's all businesses, large and small. The banks have stopped lending. They have parked billions of unloaned funds at the Fed. Waiting for what? I do not know. Small business lending is limited to the SBA backed loans and those are not easy to come by either. (Again, the banks are just not interested in making loans.)

    Z

  9. #7
    God/dess anouk.oui's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    Quote Originally Posted by rickdugan View Post
    There is no such thing as a stupid question except the one not asked.

    Also, unless your mum is going to be running your business, she doesn't get a vote. Everyone is a critic and most people with a dream of owning a business hear lots of crap from naysayers. You need to stay strong and be absolutely convinced that you are doing the right thing, or else you will not succeed.

    In terms of what you need to start with, the answer is that you need to draw up a realistic budget. How much can you sell your stuff for and can you produce it at a cost which will provide you with a profit? How much will you need to live while these goods are being produced? How much will you need to spend to deliver first run orders to the stores and how long will it take before they pay you? You will need to do some research and have answers to all of these questions in order to determine how much $$$ you will need to get started. You should build your budget month-by-month and, once you have laid out the cash flows, you will realize that you will spend a lot before the first dollar comes in the door.
    [sorry internet fail for days]
    i normally listen to a bunch of opinions and advice before i make the decision to go in a certain direction. shes just worried because i struggled with a 2k credit card and had some interest piled up and already in 75k debt with my student government loans so i can understand her concern and would rather finance it myself if it is possible.
    one thing i saw on the australian business advisory site is the different tax u need to set up. the two i looked at are sole contractor [which is what i have for dancing] which is simple n that but i am 100% liable personally if the business fails, whereas if i tax it like a company/corporation it is more difficult to set up and more expensive but it you go bust they wont take EVERY personal belonging like in the former. ahhh its so confusing.
    once i get my shit together and write my business outline i think i might see a business advisor. it sounds like an awful lot of work and i dont wanna get screwed over by finance and interest and manufactoring hells.......... god this better be worth it
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  10. #8
    God/dess anouk.oui's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    label launch survey for interested partiiieees

    http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J8N5NGD
    FUCK YEAH finally retired after 6 years dancing!!
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  11. #9
    God/dess rickdugan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    anouki, as a rule of thumb I always take the following approach when looking at a business venture:

    1. Can I sell the stuff for a profit and can I sell enough of it for the venture to be worthwhile?

    2. Everything else.

    I don't know how much research you have done to date, but before you go through all of the effort of writing a business plan, thinking about financing, deciding on corporate structures, etc., you will need to do a ton of research to determine whether you can do this at all at a protiable level.

    For a little while at least, you'd probably be better off spending less time with business advisers and more time with people who design and sell clothes for a living. Do you know anyone in the business? Questions that you will need answers to before you spend too much time dreaming up a business plan include: Who do other designers use to manufacture their stuff? What kind of profit margins are they operating with and how much can they usually sell to each store? Who do they sell to and how do they get their feet in the door? Which manufacturers can turn your designs into saleable clothes and how much would it cost?

    Once you know that, you can approach these boutiques and find out how much they would be willing to pay and what types of quantities they would be willing to stock. Are any of them willing to give you firm commitments? One reality in business is that everyone thinks that your product is great when it is a theory, but it can be a different matter when it is time to sign on the dotted line and actually commit to purchasing it. Now it is also ok to be a bit of a dreamer and apply some optimism in your forecasts - that's what us dreamers do after all - but it needs to be tempered a little bit with some realism.

    The first point of this exercise is to understand whether your ideas are realistic at all. Then, once you have a handle on that, this information will be valuable in drawing up a business plan, including the determination of financing needs and the optimal corporate structure.

    Anyway, just my

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    Can I sell the stuff for a profit and can I sell enough of it for the venture to be worthwhile?
    Indeed this is the 'key' first step toward establishing any small business. And the 'formula' to answer this question includes not only the sales / revenue side of the equation but also the operating expenses / input costs / mandated costs / customer defaults / taxes side of the equation. Indeed much of the latter is dependent on gov't / bank regulations. And these in turn lead to key questions such as ...

    - what sort of initial plus ongoing costs are involved to establish and register the business ?

    - in order for the business to process non-cash transactions at affordable rates, do banks require that the business have a physical brick and mortar address that is different from the business owner's residence ?

    - what sort of initial plus ongoing costs are going to be involved to establish that brick and mortar business address ?

    - in order for banks to allow the opening of a business / credit card merchant account, what sort of credit rating must the business owner have ?

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 06-05-2011 at 11:45 AM.

  14. #11
    God/dess anouk.oui's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    thnx for the advice. i am approaching this very realistically. i have friends who own retail shops in the artsy side of town [very trendy atm] who are constantly advising of the same problem i came across and yes would be willing to stock me. i am positive what i have is commercial and imaginative and since i know and spent a lot of time researching, studying and working for design professionals i came on here to learn more about legislation, profit, business whatever else i lack in knowledge. obviously im not gonna post here what i have in mind of releasing, as my grandfather once made the mistake of inventing something and not knowing anything about business and someone else also 'invented' and trademarked it and consequently cashed in on it. i dont want that happening to me
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    God/dess rickdugan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    Got it. My next advice was actually going to be about obtaining design patents and trademarking your logo, but you seem to have that covered also.

    So if you have a feel for how much you can sell, how much they will cost you to make and have developed a way to protect your brand (to the extent possible as clothing desgines are notoriously hard to protect), then I think it is indeed time for you to visit your business adviser. Things may be different in Australia than here, so I would be hesitant to opine on legal structures available in your country.

    The last piece of advice I will offer is: keep it simple.

    What I mean is this: Do everything you can to keep your expenses low and your business structure as uncomplicated as possible in the early days. Heck, you could probably operate from your house in the early days with a good data connection and a higher-end computer/printer setup.

    There may be licenses that you need, but I am guessing that your business advisers can point you in the right direction. Also, below is a link to a decent resource for you to find the right licensing agencies:

    http://www.wecancreate.com/blog/lega...lia-licencing/

    In terms of corporate structure, I doubt that the liability issues will be too overwhelming in the early days, so you may want to focus on a structure that minimizes your tax obligations and necessary legal and accountant expenses. You can always change structures later as the business grows. Unless you really think that you might incur heavy liaiblities in the early days, you may want to think about operating as a so-called "Sole Trader" until you are big enough to float the expenses and complications associated with a Trust or Company registration. Again though, you will need to flesh this all out with an advisor.

    In terms of financing, the reality is that no bank is going to lend money to a startup, so you will either need to find investors or take personal loans from friends and relatives. If your contacts are good, perhaps one of the designers that you have worked with might finance your first line in exchange for a return of capital plus a piece of the profits?

    With all of that said, good luck!

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  17. #13
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    that was one thing i was going to ask, if i start out as a sole trader, can i later change structure to company or business structures?
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    Default Re: Business owners of SW

    The author of this piece seems to think so, but of course you should confirm that with an adviser.

    http://www.wecancreate.com/blog/lega...e-sole-trader/

    Sole Trader seems to have the same meaning as Sole Proprietor here in the States. Typically it is fairly easy here to convert from a sole proprietorship to another structure. The important thing here is to have an attorney set up agreements in advance to allow assignment of contracts, agreements, etc. to a successor organization so that one does not need to re-sign every agreement one has with an outside parties when a structural change occurs.

    Again though, your attorney will be able to advise you on all of this, but I suspect that it should not be a big deal to start as a sole trader and to move to a more solid structure down the road.

    Good luck!

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