A very asked question is: when to expand the business? Growing your brand can mean different things. Are you increasing your production numbers? Are you investing in new items? Or your goal is simply to increase profits? There are different ways to expand your fashion business, but you need to be ready for all the craziness that growth can bring to your life. You need to be ready for the commitment. Sometimes, keeping doing what you are doing does not mean stagnation, it means consistency.
It is easy to say “I want to grow my business”. I mean, who does not wish that? But, if starting a business is a hard thing, imagine growing your brand and making even bigger investment risks. In Brazil, we have a dictation that says “if you don’t owe, you don’t grow”. This might seem like a bad thing, but the truth is, this is the reality of business.
In a jungle of people who spend years educating themselves and trying to insert themselves in the market, being a revolutionary who takes a bigger (and lonely) step towards entrepreneurship is something to be appreciated and, mostly, admired! I have tried, I am still working on it and, I have got to admit, this thing is harder and it looks and it takes more discipline than you will ever know.
I always knew that I would build my way to the top and try this entrepreneurship life. My parents are entrepreneurs, and so were my grandparents. I grew up with this mentality, but something that I was never taught is how hard and how much discipline this takes. After years in the fashion industry, working with hundreds of clients, and starting a business myself, a thing that I have learned is: that not everyone is ready to grow their business, and staying where you do not mean stagnation.
Establishing a solid business, a business like Levi’s that has grown over the years but keeps consistent about its products and quality is exactly what I am talking about. Doing what you love and running a business that you love is the whole point, so why overwhelm yourself with things that you are not ready for? Growing the brand is always my main point when working with my clients but starting with a solid foundation and doing what you know BEST is the key before starting to think about growing the brand.
Building a solid and well-known business is hard, but consistency can, sometimes, be the best decision you will make. Yes, growth is important, but doing what you know best and investing with strategy is more important than how much your name will be recognized worldwide. After all, if you want to be recognized worldwide, you want people to know you for the right reasons, correct?
There is no right answer when we are talking about the right time to grow your business. The point here is that you need to be ready. Your branding needs to be 100% accurate, your products and services need to be impeccable, and, mostly, a business strategy with no room for error. I have seen people in the fashion industry who tried to grow their business and the stress, the costs, the time management, all of that ended up being too much, so, instead of growing the business, the person decided to keep doing what he knew best: make clothes for a selected kind of public.
Gone are the days when small businesses were actually small. Now you can be considered a “small business” while producing thousands of units, shipping everywhere around the world, and doing wholesale. Never forget that quality is the most important thing in business, no matter what industry you are in. So, doing what you know best, focusing on doing it well, consolidating your name as a brand, and keeping doing it does not mean stagnation or lack of business growth, it means consistency and a job well done.
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