How to Start a Custom Purse-Luggage Business

Monday, April 15, 2013

How to Start a Custom Purse-Luggage Business

Purses and luggage can be fashion statements in addition to useful accessories. A segment of both of these markets is willing to pay premium prices for customized products, to set themselves apart from others at work, around town and when traveling. Starting a custom purse and luggage business can give you an edge over competitors offering standard products with no customization options. The Internet provides the perfect medium for allowing customers to build their own custom designs, from anywhere in the country and at any time.

Step 1
Create basic designs for a number of purse and luggage items. Put a lot of thought into this step to ensure that you reach the perfect balance of simplicity and customization. Customers will not want to create their own designs completely from scratch; simplify the customer experience by creating different style sets, accessories and features that can be built into basic designs. For example, you might choose to offer four basic purse styles, with the option to choose the materials, colors, side-pocket styles, latches and straps used for each basic design.

Step 2
Register your business in your state. Even though most or all of your business will come from the web, you will still need to register at the state level. Use the sole proprietorship form of organization to simplify the registration process and keep start-up costs as low as possible. Contact your Secretary of State's office to determine which agencies handle sole proprietorship registrations in your state.

Step 3

Build a website, including a shopping cart platform and credit card payment gateway, which allows customers to create and order customized products. It would be challenging, if not impossible, to find a standard shopping cart platform that can handle the amount of interactivity you need for your customization feature. Contract with a software development company to develop a custom shopping cart package to suit your unique needs. If possible, find a developer able to set up your payment gateway and provide up-front product training.

Step 4
Purchase all of the equipment you will need to put purses and luggage together, including sewing machines, thread, needles and leather-working tools. Stock a wide range of materials and accessories to accommodate the variety of possible custom combinations you offer. The last thing you want is to not have the materials on hand to create a specific custom design early on.

Tip

Consider working with a sewing contractor service or third-party garment manufacturer to handle your orders as they come in. This can reduce your per-unit profit margins but allow you to handle a much higher sales volume without hiring a large team of employees.

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Monday, April 15, 2013

How to Start a Custom Purse-Luggage Business

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