New series of courses for ambitious fashion designers: BUSINESS FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE

Improve your business skills and your chances of success!

• Production – where and how to get your designs produced.
• Sales & Marketing – how to sell, who to sell to, what about PR and shows? plus market pricing and product costing.
• Money – manage your money properly, control your cash flow, work out your profit – be independent!
• Make it Happen!

‘Business for Creative People’ is a series of six workshops aimed at designers (and students) at whatever stage their business may be – established, start-up or just an idea.

They are designed to be practical – giving you simple tools to help you manage your business well.

You can attend the whole series to get a good rounded set of business skills or just the ones you need to get a specific insight on the subjects of your choice.

And as an added bonus: You will also get the chance to discuss your own particular needs both during the workshops and in one-to-one surgeries immediately after.

Each Workshop starts at 9.30 a.m. and lasts about 5 hours (including breaks for lunch and tea/coffee).

The workshops are delivered by our Specialist Advisor, Nigel Rust (see profile on Fashion Capital website: Industry/Specialist Advisors).

Location: The Fashion Studio, Knowledge Dock, University of East London. (Nearest station: DLR, Cypress)

Dates:  Thursdays – 13^th and 20^th October, 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th and 24^th November 2011. (9.30 a.m. till approx. 2.30 p.m.)

Price: Fashion Capital members = £60 + VAT per delegate per workshop;

Non-members = £75 + VAT per delegate per workshop.

How to Book: Please email Jenni Sutton at Fashion Enter: jenni@fashion-enter.com

 

Workshop Details:

Workshop 1. Thursday 13^th October 2011, 9.30 a.m.

Title: Getting the Most Out of Your Manufacturer

Topics:

1. Finding suitable manufacturers – Where to look. Creating a short list.
2. Selecting a manufacturer – What to look out for. Check list of requirements. The importance of a relationship. Sampling v Production.
3. Developing the relationship – developing mutual trust
4. UK v Overseas – the pros and cons
5. Communications – How to get your spec across. Delivery expectations. Quality. Progress chasing. What the manufacturer needs from you.
6. Production planning – What you need to do to keep the manufacturer on track.

 

Workshop 2. Thursday 20^th October 2011.

Title: Making It Happen

Topics:

1. Objectives – Know where you are now and where you want to be.
2. Action Plans – Pulling together all the strands of what you need to do to get to where you want to be – Product development/Sales & marketing/PR/Production/Financials/Cash Flow. This section will also give you the chance to develop your own action plan.
3. Gantt Charts – an amazingly straight forward and simple tool to help you achieve your goals and keep you on target.
4. Driving the business forward – Monitoring, reviewing, revising. Staying one step ahead.
5. Do you need a Business Plan? – what is a business plan, when would you need one, what goes into it

 

Workshop 3. Thursday 3^rd November 2011

Title: How Much Are You Really Making?

Topics:

1. Introduction to Profit/Loss –How many garments do you have to sell before you start making money? How do you know if your prices are going to cover all your costs? Why wait until the end of the year to find out from your accountant just how successful you were this season? A simple Profit/Loss account is the starting point to answering these questions and helping you manage your business well.
2. Recording your sales and purchases – Simple, practical, ways to record your income and expenditure that don’t take up a lot of time but do keep you in control.
3. How to treat stock – How to value fabrics, trimmings and finished garments.
4. VAT – Do you need to be VAT registered? Would it pay to be VAT registered?
5. Cash Flow – How would your business be affected if one of your customers was late paying you?  Are you sure you will be able to pay for your garments when they are ready? This section will introduce a simple cash flow tool to help you plan ahead.

 

Workshop 4. Thursday 10^th November 2011

Title: How Rich Are You Going To Be?

Topics:

1. Forecasting/Budgeting – Why bother to forecast? Tips on how to forecast and how to make good use of a variable forecast.
2. Costing/Pricing – How to pitch your price. Are you going to recover your costs?
3. Break Even Point – How much do you need to sell to start making money? How much money will you make as your sales increase? How will your pricing decision affect the answer to these questions? This section will give you an easy-to-use method of working this out – a tool that will be very useful in helping you take sound business decisions.
4. More about Cash Flow – Making sure you get paid on time.

 

Workshop 5.    Thursday 17^th November 2011

Title: Sales & Marketing

Topics:

1. 1. The Elements of Marketing. How to bring together the important elements required to

market your designs – the ‘P’s.

1. 2. Working out your USP (Unique Selling Point). What makes your designs different? Why

should someone buy your designs instead of some else’s?

1. 3. Branding. Stand out from the crowd.
2. 4. Promotion – PR, Shows, Website, Social Media etc. How to go about promoting yourself

and your products.

1. 5. Routes to Market. Choosing your outlets – direct to public/wholesale/agents/export/

internet etc.

1. 6. Targeting. Pinpointing your buyers.
2. 7. Useful tools to help you on the way.

 

Workshop 6. Thursday 24^th November 2011

Title: Selling and Negotiating

Topics:

1. 1. The Sales Campaign. Identifying buyers, preparation, planning, timing.
2. 2. The Approach. How to make initial contact and how to follow it up. Making best use of

telephone, email, letters, photos and copies of PR articles.

1. 3. The Pitch. How to make them want to buy from you.
2. 4. The Negotiation. Getting the best deal.
3. 5. Closing. Getting the order.
4. 6. Review

Delegates will get a chance to practice what they learn throughout the workshop, resulting in greater confidence and ability to go out and sell.