Introduction
Do you have any brilliant design concepts or fresh ideas for an activewear brand? Or the sports fashion you’re looking for is not readily available in the market?
If you ask any business owner, they will tell you that setting up a business emerges with its good share of challenges. Much work, time, and, most importantly, passion goes into starting an activewear brand.
If you’re serious about starting your own brand, you should take the time to learn the basics of branding.
Activewear companies had a successful year in 2020. However, due to the pandemic, people have sought out various means of staying active, whether inside, at home, or outside in nature, away from human crowds to maintain social distance.
According to predictions, the athletic apparel market will expand by $157.1 billion between 2020 and 2024, leaving plenty of potential for new firms with distinctive and avant-garde design concepts.
How do you begin, though? What steps must you take to bring it all about?
If you intend to start your athleisure or activewear company, you should do so.
If you want to start your sports or activewear company, this post is for you. We’ll offer you a rundown of the procedures needed to launch a profitable firm, so stick to the end.
Elements Of A Sportswear Brand
1- Idea And Concept
Even if you have everything planned out, have a fantastic idea, and have researched it, you should pause to consider whether this is truly unique. Your brand’s appearance and usefulness must be the main priorities. But in addition to considering the company’s aesthetics, it’s crucial to keep in mind the costs and profitability of this. All of this is required to provide the best possible growth of your idea.
Without a plan, a marketing notion is useless. So, don’t skimp on marketing strategies. The amount of money taken from your business bank account while planning and research determines whether a brand is successful or not. Keep your personal and business accounts separately to know the exact amount being used in the business.
Conducting a SWOT analysis when your company is just getting started is another tip that might be helpful. Knowing a brand’s strengths, aims, weaknesses, and threats is referred to as conducting a SWOT analysis. This will enable you to comprehend your objectives and any potential future problems fully.
2- Mission
If you are familiar with the business world, you must know that every organization maintains records of a few crucial factors, including a mission statement.
The mission of an organization defines its purpose. It represents the organization’s objectives in a particular setting. As a result, it also refers to the company’s current operations and how it caters to various interest groups. These include, among others, shareholders, partners, customers, the community, and the government.
The mission statement serves as a framework for decisions regarding using and using the resources. For the organization to work cohesively, it also serves as a mix.
3- Vision
The vision represents the organization’s future, whereas the mission represents its present. It represents the direction the business will take over the next few years.
In addition, it serves as a director for strategic choices about expansion, diversification, and competitiveness. Additionally, it supports the various interest groups that gather around the organization.
The vision is demanding because it is a crucial and potent agent for change; it is qualitative, fosters transformation, and is appealing.
Since it doesn’t specify a specific date for the modification, it tends to remain timeless. This indicates a dynamic projection on the horizon, even though it could also construct a projected era in time. As a result, it directs the mission.
3- Values
The fundamental principles and ideas that make up an organization’s culture are known as its values. Furthermore, a company’s common beliefs are significant and thus desirable.
They impact the conduct and direction of an organization’s members when they are accepted. A value system is a collection of components used to guide and hold members of an organization to a standard.
They can then evaluate their behavior and that of their fellow members. Therefore, if things are harmful, they ought to be punished. The organization must then reinforce the behavior with wholesome ideals.
4- Branding
To spread awareness, brand management uses branding. Additionally, it emphasizes forming a favorable impression in the thoughts and hearts of customers. Therefore, the objective, brand values, and positioning are all included in branding or brand management. Additionally, it establishes a relationship with the public to affect their purchase choices.
Creating a successful brand identity takes a lot of time and planning. It will help if you differentiate your brand from the many others worldwide. To do this, you must foster customer awareness and adherence to your brand. Keep in mind that your brand and your actual products must be connected.
You should also be aware of the goal of your brand. Said a plan is something’s reason for existence. This goal frequently appears as a phrase that goes with the emblem and becomes the brand’s motto or slogan.
5- Enterprise
Building your activewear brand is not a standard 9 to 5 job. What you produce, not how many hours you put in at work, is what counts.
When you are your employer, you are responsible for making things happen. As a result, you will work around the clock while living your brand.
Everyone has brilliant ideas. But what distinguishes an entrepreneur from others is their ability to turn those ideas into reality. You will need to work hard and pursue your dream.
So, ask yourself if you are suited for this. Do you want it? In addition to this, planning to launch a clothing line is perfect because you will be sweating heavily.
6 Steps Guide to a Fitness Clothing Line Launch
You’re bound to trip and fall a few times while starting a new business. Read this step-by-step guide on how to start a fitness clothing brand.
1- Starting Up
Concept & Market Demand
An idea is the first step. You can either start your brand because you have a hard time finding the garments you need or you want to express your style through your clothing. You’ll succeed more if your product or service can solve a problem for a customer. Make sure to act on your concept immediately if you have faith in it. But first, be clear about your target customer and the market you intend to serve.
We recommend asking yourself the following set of questions as a jumping-off point:
- Who do you envision as your potential customers? When are you introducing your brand image? Who will buy your product?
- How will you make a sale to this person? What about your company and its offerings that this buyer can’t get anywhere else?
- What’s in it for them, exactly?
- When and where you’ll be making product sales to your ideal client? In which location can people find you?
- How do you plan to spread the word about your company and its offerings? How do you plan to promote it?
Entrepreneurship
Being an entrepreneur isn’t a 9-to-5 thing. The number of hours you put in at work is irrelevant. In the end, what counts is the results you achieve. Now that you’re your own boss, it’s up to you to make things happen. You’ll have to devote yourself completely to your company.
Everyone has brilliant thoughts and ideas. Entrepreneurship is different because they are the ones creating the brand. You’ll have to put in the effort and see through the project if you want to succeed. Can you handle this? Does it meet your needs? Do you have the tenacity and resolve to make this goal a reality? If you answered “yes,” you’re a perfect fit for creating your activewear business!
2- Market Research
Competitive Analysis
Your idea is great. But the big question is: is it original? Where do you see this new product fitting into the market? Look through the market like a hawk. Try looking up information, shopping, and reading news about clothing brands. You need your product to differentiate itself from the others on the market. Your company’s name should be synonymous with excellence. You’ll never be the best if another company has already taken your product’s idea.
Organizational Business Strategy
A well-thought business plan is great for attracting the attention of potential investors. The company plan will benefit investors, but it’s geared towards you. You must be honest with yourself and examine your business from all perspectives. Real life rarely looks like the version you had in your mind while drafting your business plan, so expect your own business plan to develop and change over time.
Money
It isn’t cheap to launch an active wear brand. You have estimated the start-up costs and added them to your initial budget. But how do you plan on paying for it? Do you plan on recruiting any investors? Start-ups can get specialized loans and investors.
As an entrepreneur, prepare to give up a stake in your business while looking for investors in the initial stages. However, that’s the most effective strategy to launch your plan and finally realize your goal.
Team
Step 1 warned that you should expect to shed blood, sweat, and tears as you establish your business venture. Is it possible for you to handle everything on your own? Is this the most effort and time-saving option, even if it is viable? You need to surround yourself with motivated people who can fill your gaps if you want to be successful. Find a designer if you’re a businessperson and a good business partner if you’re a creative type. You shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to do everything since no one can.
3- Branding and Marketing Strategy
Branding for Active Wear
Don’t skimp on the research and development of your business’s branding. Putting time and effort into developing a memorable brand identity is crucial. You should design the Labels, hang tags, packaging, business website, and materials on your own with consistency. Your logo should look amazing no matter what its size is. Plenty of brands compete for consumers’ attention; your brand needs to be noticeable. Build a relationship with your customers and create brand awareness. Remember that your brand’s quality should reflect your items’ quality.
Marketing
According to research, customers need to interact with your business seven times to purchase. It’s reasonable to wonder, “What exactly is a touchpoint?” Your social media profiles (especially Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube), podcasts, the trade magazines you contribute to, etc.
The various channels via which you promote your product. So, you should consider diversifying your marketing plan rather than depending on a single touchpoint alone.
What are you going to talk about? Think of this as more of a documentation exercise than a creative one. Show your customers the inner workings of your business by documenting your work-related trips and inviting them to tag along. Introduce the backstory of your company.
Everything you do will be an opportunity to market yourself, including the products, the content, and the customer service.
Always put the customer first and never hide the purpose or values of your business from them. Explain to the public what sets your items apart from the other activewear manufacturers. Your brand’s superpower lies in its distinctive selling proposition.
4- Design Your Collection
Define The Range
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, you can go on to the next stage: design and product development. Creating a solid collection with various styles that go well together and boost sales is important for a business.
During this stage, you will also think about buying proper materials. Consider the use of the product, the problems they’ll solve for clients, and the design path you hope to take.
Working on a mood board is fun to set the tone for the design during this step. Keep your collection organized and easy to understand.
Designing The Products
After you create and organize your collection, the designer can start sketching the designs and looking for materials. Remember to consider where you get your motivation and how you want people to perceive your own sportswear brand.
The aesthetics should align with your company’s principles, goals, and personality. The designer must create high-quality samples to begin sampling and producing your items. Each product’s sample serves as its blueprint, and the manufacturer may provide cost estimates with it and work on the prototypes.
Sourcing Material
What we mean when we say “source” is to discover suppliers, or machines supplies, and accessories.” With an idea of what you can spend, how much performance you need, and what quality you need, start limiting your options for materials. Add-ons to clothing might be anything from cables to zipper pullers. Now, find a fitness clothing maker who is a good fit for your business, can share your vision for activewear and produce your designs.
Pricing
In the second stage, you will survey your manufacturing and design expenditures. Recheck your pricing after setting up your collection, sourcing materials, locating factories, and estimating production costs. Now the question is, “Will it make money?” Look at your budget from top to bottom and determine where you can make adjustments.
5- Make Your Garments
Pattern & Prototype
You can’t skip this step; it’s vital. You may have fantastic ideas for sportswear on paper, but you still need to turn them into actual clothes. Choose a reliable pattern creator based on the samples, which is not easy to do. You use your desired sample size to create the pattern, which is then scaled up to accommodate a range of sizes.
You can now start to create prototypes using the provided pattern. Between each iteration, you will take measurements, try on the clothing, and make any necessary adjustments to the pattern or fit. To have a sample prepared to exhibit and sell, you will likely need two or three prototypes per style. Make sure the products are comfortable.
Production
You can begin making plans for mass manufacturing after you have your prototype model (salesperson sample) in hand. Have this conversation with the maker of your sportswear as soon as possible. You need to factor your output into their schedule.
It’s important to inform them about the scale of your manufacturing, including the variety of designs and sizes you need for each product. Write down your expectations for delivery timeframes and product quality and send them to the manufacturer.
Activewear prioritizes specialized performance, durability, and fabric quality compared to general clothing produced on versatile production lines.
Shipping
You’ve finished mass-producing your great sportswear, and now you must deliver it to your customers. Depending on the approach to sales, you may get one or more clients. Retailers, customers, and even wholesalers might buy from you.
Examine your supply chain, talk to your shipping partners, and know how you will repackage the goods to look appealing to your target market.
6- Making Sales
It doesn’t matter if your product is the best in the world or if you have the best backstory if no one is interested in what you have to offer. It’s impossible to run a successful company without generating sales. So, you can continue doing what you love and invest in expanding your collection only if people buy from you.
Any brand can choose any marketing approach it likes to use to boost sales. But, having your online store is necessary if you want to be a future business. It will let you be in charge of the message and experience directed towards your target audience.
Orders
There is the least order size that the sportswear factory needs from you before they’ll start making your yoga sets, track suits, and your gym bras and leggings. To at least aim for this as a sales goal. Get out and keep taking orders until you’ve reached your quota. But remember to note down the amount of each material you need. Approximately how many yards of material do you get on a roll?
When shopping for fabric, you should avoid buying too much to have scraps left over. If you’re making clothes, make only what people have ordered. Don’t stock up unless you’re running an online store and need to keep inventory on hand.
Customer Service
Maintain a positive relationship with your customers. You tailor your customers’ clothing to serve a specific function. Don’t let them down; instead, try to envision life from their perspective and think about how you may be of help. Where do you stand on returns, refunds, and shipping delays? Communicate with your clients and use their feedback to enhance your offerings.
Pros of Starting an Activewear Brand
Flexibility: You can give your business as much time as you wish. You can run the entire business alone if you enjoy the work and get a high ROI with minimal investment.
Potential for Endless Profits: There is no fixed profit that you can generate by launching your activewear brand. The total profit in a fitness apparel business depends on how hard you work and how much time you dedicate to your work.
Activewear Clothing can be worn casually too: Athleisure clothing is commonly seen on people at restaurants, stores, movie theaters, beaches, and other public places that encourage a relaxed dress code. In other words, athleisure clothes can now be worn everywhere and not just at the gym.
Revenue that you may count on: With a certain number of customers on board, you can expect your company’s future income, which makes budgeting easier. In 2021, the worldwide sportswear market was worth $147.5 billion. Also, by 2026, the worldwide market for sportswear is expected to be worth $248.99 billion.
Possibility of Obtaining More Referrals: Referrals are critical if you want to succeed in this business. You can use a referral program by providing discounts to your clients if they review your product.
Location Is Crucial: Your location is an advertisement if you have a storefront. Find a place in a busy neighborhood where people will be curious enough to stop and visit your store.
Put Your Product on the Market You Like: Putting your products in the market lets you connect with a wider audience and make more money.
Model of Business Simplicity: One of the benefits of starting an apparel company is that the business plan is simple.
Possibility of Earning More Money: Your earning potential in this business is limitless.
A Simple Path to Success in Business: Various resources are accessible online to help launch your successful business (Facebook groups, YouTube videos, Starter Story etc.). These resources will help you establish your business. Moreover, you can fix any business issues through these resources.
Amazon Is a Great Place to Market and Sell Your Product: There are some advantages and disadvantages of selling something on Amazon. It is the largest online retailer in the world so you can have a vast audience.
You Establish Yourself as an Expert: Launching an activewear brand allows you to position yourself as an industry leader. Customers will have more faith in you and recommend you to the people they know if you maintain the quality.
Rapid Gains in Profitability and Success: Compared to other types of businesses, it can generate income and results. If you take the time to test your plan and products, you should also find ways to generate a rapid return on investment.
Cons of Starting an Activewear Brand
Sales Cycle Lengthens: There might be a lot of customer involvement in an athletic brand. So, you need to expect a long conversion funnel and maintain contact with the customers.
Low-Profit Margins: The profit margins of your brand are around 20%. This makes it difficult to take on extra costs while making a profit. Paying hefty self-employment taxes is a reality if you own an athletic company. Knowing your yearly accounting and tax filing will help you decide if starting a brand is worthwhile.
Small Market: Targeting a specific market may differ between failure and success. Also, finding the right market niche and target audience can be more challenging.
High Fixed Costs: The startup investment is linked with launching an apparel company because it is important to maintain inventory. You may have to collect sales tax if you ship your products to customers in more than one state. There may be no direct impact, but working out the details can be a pain.
Commitment of Time: When introducing your activewear line to the market, you are in charge of everything. Being in charge is not always negative, but it is possible to let work overtake your life. However, this dedication has the potential to make launching a new business more stressful and to have an impact on personal relationships.
Challenging to Gain a Customer’s Trust: Building trust with your customers when launching an activewear business is difficult. This is because it has limited opportunities for personal engagement with those customers. You’ll have to go above and beyond if you want a customer’s attention and money. You can share your story with your customers to connect more with them.
Progression of Experience: When you become the boss, you are not given a manual that outlines your responsibilities. You are responsible for every decision that your brand makes. Thus you must comprehend every facet of it.
Issues with Broken Equipment: The cost of repairing your broken equipment and maintaining its routine maintenance can quickly pile up over time. You need to set aside money in your budget to cover these costs and take preventative measures to lower the likelihood that there will be damage.
Industries Hard Hit by the Downturn: Retail stores may stop stocking specific sportswear lines during tight times.
Bugs in the system can be very annoying: Having technical difficulties is common in this industry. If you find that dealing with the technical parts is becoming too frustrating for you, one alternative that you have is to outsource them.
Bottom Line
Make sure to stick to your brand’s aesthetic and values no matter what kind of athletic apparel company you decide to launch. It is the only thing that will help you differentiate yourself from the other people competing with you.
Do not be afraid to share your thoughts and beliefs with others. The rest will take care of itself, provided you can connect with your ideal customers and simultaneously cater to the needs of a specific niche.
We hope that this post helped guide you through the process of beginning your sportswear brand. Thank you very much for reading!
FAQs
Why Should I Start A Sportswear Brand?
The world has completely transformed since the coronavirus pandemic began. Many people modify their habits as a result.
Several people have reported that some of them have become unwell. However, a significant type of people use their free time and the new normal by engaging in some form of physical activity for a few minutes each day.
Although not everyone is willing to work out and join the fitness industry, numerous coaches and experts have demonstrated that consistently working out depends on the motivation to wear active wear. Why not capitalize on the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives by developing a new brand?
How To Start An Activewear Brand Quickly?
The foundation of every great enterprise is an idea, and the fashion industry is no exception. This concept may have developed as a means of meeting a need.
Or perhaps this concept has a purpose and history. It’s up to you, the entrepreneur, to figure out why this brand exists.
However, it goes beyond simply having a fantastic concept. If you don’t link your idea to an existing consumer need, your brand won’t be successful.
Remember that the buyer is always right, and you must be aware of their needs as a business. Therefore, be very aware of what you plan to sell. It has to address a need, whether it’s a brand-new concept or one you wish to improve on.
What Are The Different Types Of Brand Values?
Social values, discuss civic engagement or environmental stewardship. They also talk about the dynamics of the workplace and even enjoyment, including sustainability and teamwork. Development values determine the pattern of continual improvement.
In addition to its effect on communities, innovation is one of these. Values in work dynamics reference an internal activity, such as excellence and efficiency. A few examples of customer service values are a willingness to help, respect, and active listening. These characteristics signify unequaled contentment.
