How to start selling wholesale clothing online

A wholesale clothing business is a type of business in which the articles of clothing are sold in bulk to retailers who will then resell these items to consumers. The products are offered at a much lower price point by wholesale clothing suppliers as they sell in bulk which allows retailers to resell the items in a higher price and make a profit. Sometimes, the clothing are manufactured in the house of a wholesalers, and others act as a middleman between manufacturers and retailers.

The process of starting a wholesale business is quite straightforward but requires a bit of hard work and perseverance. The steps involved to become a clothing wholesaler include:

It is always a good idea to understand the clothing industry before starting a wholesale clothing distribution. Alertness and agility is required to stay on top of rapid changes in this industry.

For example, a specific clothing item may become a hot trend overnight as the clothing industry depends on many pop culture and social trends. An article of clothing featured in a photo or video may rapidly increase in demand if the post goes viral. A high risk or high reward situation may be created by these items as these quick trends can go just as quickly as they come. Therefore, knowing the latest trends to work on and the inventory required to buy is difficult to figure out as forecasting demands can be a challenge.

You need to decide the type of garment for your wholesale clothing business as you can not sell all types and styles of garments. Choosing a niche is not only about choosing the type of garments you are going to sell, but also choosing the sort of audience you will be serving. For example, you need to identify what sort of retailers you are going to sell if you have decided to sell t-shirts. Are you going to sell to retailers who focus on men, women or children? or are you going to sell to a discount store or a luxury store?

You can also brand yourself to align with a very specific target audience which may be related to the style of clothing or to how it is manufactured. For example, finding sustainable fashion can help you better connect with an audience as it is a popular trend right now. A clear idea of the type of product you are going to sell and your ideal client will help you creating a business plan, marketing and selling your garments.

You must create a business plan before starting wholesale clothing distribution business as it comes with many moving parts. You should be clear about what to achieve and how you will achieve it. Direction will be provided by creating a plan for your wholesale clothing business as you navigate through the startup process. You can easily find the templates for business plans. However, a formal business plan is not necessarily required unless you are presenting it for funding. Things that you should address in your business plan include:

Choosing a niche is very essential if you want to be successful in wholesale clothing business. However, you must identify exactly what you have to offer apart from choosing a niche. You should set the specifics of your business, including what you are going to sell and who you will be selling it to. Identify the problem solved by your product. An ideal client avatar (ICA) need to be build. You need to also identify the way you are going to reach this target audience. 

Several initial investments need to be done in order to things get started. A list of all of the expenses you need to get started and how much is required on a monthly or quarterly basis to sustain operations should be made. You should also have the knowledge of how much money you need to make to break even and how many sales  that  would require. These expenses need to be compared with the money you have available so that it can be decided if you have enough to self-fund, or you need help. In that case you need to consider investors as an option, or a business loan.

It is essential to build a reliable team for starting a business that will be sustainable for years to come. Some executives to head operations, sales, supplying, distribution, etc. will be needed. Laborers are also needed to run the operation. Workers should be hired for jobs like order fulfillment, inventory management and customer service. Create descriptions to hire according to the roles and responsibilities.

The processes that make your business run successfully, such as employee on-boarding, lead generation, daily tasks, marketing strategies, order fulfillment, etc. should be documented. The main goal of documentation is to create tangible instructions so that anybody can step in and run your business in case you cannot be there or you can hire a CEO and hand over operating responsibilities. Consistency in your operations can be maintained by having your processes documented. It also help you see where you can modify to make improvements if necessary.

Different legal action and formalities are required in different places for starting and operating a business. Your business must be registered as an entity which helps to protect yourself as an individual since both the finances and legal implications are kept as a separate entity. The entity can be a corporation or an LLC. You should look into local guidelines and restrictions to see what is required to do. The purpose of getting licenses and permits for your work is to keep your business protected and make things easier at tax time. You can take help from a local tax professional and business lawyer.

Inquire about taxes on your orders when you go through this part of the process. The type of sales tax you will be charging and the type of fees applicable if you do business across borders need to be figure out. You may consult with a local exporting specialist so that the proper infrastructure can be created if you are interested. Therefore, you need to be completely aware of all of the legal implications of international transactions.

A physical location for your business is required. A factory or a wimple warehouse is required to store inventory and fulfill orders depending on whether you are manufacturing your clothing or not.

Although, clothing manufacturing is a process of its own, but it also plays an important role in your wholesale clothing business. You can manufacture clothing in your own factory or buy from another manufacturer as a clothing wholesaler. A bit of capital is required for opening a factory of your own and to get started. But it will help you make more money.

You will need to consider whether you will rent or buy in both situation. The flexibility to start small and move into something bigger as your business grows is provided by renting. But, equity can not be build by paying rent. On the other hand, buying has less flexibility and requires a larger down payment. But you build equity as you pay your mortgage.

You have to create an online storefront to sell your products online. You can either build an independent site of your own or can create a storefront on a B2B eCommerce marketplace. A storefront on an eCommerce website will help drive more traffic to your product listings as the platforms show your products to buyers that are looking for them because it double as a search engine. On the other hand, you have total control over the branding and user experience when using your own site which is the benefit.

You can start selling once your storefront and product listings setup is done. You will either have to close deals through conversations directly with clients or fulfill orders from submitted forms depending on the structure of your storefront.

You need to allot resources to sales. Invest some time in developing your sales skills if you are running a small wholesale clothing distribution business. Learn to build genuine and long term relationships and optimize your sales pipeline. Invest in a highly-skilled individual or team that will take on all of the selling responsibilities if you have the resources. It will be difficult to make enough sales without a proper salesforce to sustain your business.

You need to stay in touch with buyers after the sale as it is very important for setting a solid foundation and growing your wholesale clothing business. Follow up with buyers by making a call after they have received the order to make sure that everything was delivered as expected. Encourage them to provide feedback to help you improve your process which can be done with a survey over the phone or in another follow-up email.

Request them to leave you a review on social media and your chosen B2B eCommerce marketplace when buyers says that they are happy with your service. Testimonials can be collected in writing or video form which will help build your credibility and attract new customers.

Make sure that your buyers order from you again when their stock is running low or they would like to add a new item of clothing to their lines by staying connected with them. Always make it a priority to maintain relationships with your customers as genuine connections are key to your success.