If you look around, most of the things we own are made from fibers or textiles. The carpet, the rug, the table cloth, and the denim jeans we love: are all made of some form of fiber. It’s hard to even imagine our lives without the textile industry. It’s that important!
While textiles are all around us, that raises the need for more people to join this field. If you want to be a part of the dynamic textile industry: you are in the right place.
In this article, we will share 5 tips; that can help you start a textile business; that will flourish.
5 Tips to Make a Profitable Textile Business
1. Study the industry
If you have a small textile business or are thinking of starting one: get ready for some real competition. Brands that are already in business for years or are more successful than you will give you a hard time. While the competition is brutal: you should not get discouraged. Every business started out somewhere!
What you should do is to keep your understanding of fabrics at the top. Make sure; you know which fabrics sell well in which areas and what kind of customers like what fabrics. Knowing the product better will help you find loopholes in the industry that you can later fill and use in your favor.
About the market, try to understand trends and what problems are there, and what issues can occur in the future. If you know the problems you might have to face; then you can be better prepared to actually deal with them.
The third thing to keep in mind is to know your competition. Countries like China, India, Vietnam, and Pakistan are places where textiles have been manufactured for years at a low rate. Many brands use their fabric to make goods. You can list down industries and brands in your area and see how you can better deal with the competition. You can even collaborate with brands to learn and develop fruitful partnerships.
2. Know your customers
Customers make you who you are, and no brand can survive without customers. So make sure you know who your target audience is and their needs. If you don’t know your customer and their needs; you will not be able to meet their needs.
To survive and to grow you need to have a good idea of who you are selling to. Thus it’s good to go through customer data and companies you work with to achieve your goals. To get more companies to work with you; you can take certain certifications into account to show that you are capable of doing what you claim to.
These certifications may include:
- ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
- ANSI (American National Standards Institute) if applicable
- ACC (American Chemistry Council) if applicable
- CEN (European Committee for Standardization) If applicable
To understand customers; you can use data released by the government, different private industries, trader publications, etc. You can also collect your own data through online research tools, surveys, or through social media.
3. Specialize in a small area
While you might be tempted to try everything in the beginning, it’s best to start small and grow from there. The famous business empire Louis Vuitton started out with suitcases that bloomed into the luxury brand it is today. It started out with suitcases that were needed at the time and were so practical and elegant that the elite wanted nothing else.
The founder knew the customer and what they wanted. He knew what the industry lacked and how he can make his room. You can do the same. After you know the market and your audience well; you can explore what fabrics are in trend and according to your location which textiles will benefit you the most.
You can make a list and start from what seems the most promising. Let’s take the 2006 study: “Niche market strategy in the textile and apparel industry” by Parrish et al into account. According to the study, Niche strategy plays a huge role while competing with lower-priced imports.
It also showed that whether a company thinks from the point of view of the market or product; the customer is the most important factor to think about.
So while you select your target niche; make sure you know exactly what the customer wants!
4. Set up a website
We live in the 21st century where manual strategies are considered too old and automation has become a necessity. With billions of internet users, the World Wide Web provides you with the opportunity to reach an audience you could never imagine of.
Keeping that in mind; it’s time you set up a website that shows the world what you have to offer. Many platforms help in making websites within minutes. Plus with performance metrics, ads and Google support you will find it easier to connect to customers.
You will also get to know customers closely through reviews and their responses. The clothing brand Nastygal is a successful example. It reached a revenue of $100 million in 2012 after it opened its store online in 2008.
It is dominantly an online store and that has given it the power to reach millions of people to generate huge revenues. About brand success, it really depends on how you construct the site and how user-friendly it is. To make a stunning site you need to do good market research and that again stresses the fact the research is key!
5. Work on marketing
If you don’t work hard enough; some other brand will take away your customers. That is why marketing is so important. When you market well you can show the world what you have to offer and why they need it. Taking an example, brands like Aerie Real developed by American Eagle, focused on natural beauty as their primary purpose.
Their slogan “the real you is beautiful”; touched hearts and was so relatable that it saw a 9 percent rise in sales after its campaign. They marketed the idea, used it on social media so well that they were able to reach their intended audience and build trust that paid off.
Thus your ideology, uniqueness, and authenticity should be well absorbed in your marketing. Marketing is key if you want to bring in customers.
Conclusion
In this article, we went through 5 tips that can be used to grow a textile business. We have focused on market and customer research as you should be well aware of what you are dealing with. Secondly, you should work on a niche that works with your intended audience.
Once you have it all planned, start working on a website and your marketing campaign so that you can proudly display your hard work. These tips are just a few of the many you should know about. We highly encourage you to explore this area more and do in-depth research.
Good research, a stunning website, and a focused marketing campaign have the potential to do wonders!