
Ask HN: Talk at me about some basic business things, pretty please - DoreenMichele
It has been my dream for years to start my own clothing line. My vision is a mass customization knitwear line in mostly cotton or cotton-silk blend (cotton-polyester blends would be okay, too).<p>A few months ago, I requested the abandoned subreddit r&#x2F;ClothingStartups and was eventually granted mod status there. It is getting traffic and membership has gone up from 965 people to 1303 in a fairly short period of time while I mostly neglect it.<p>I am dirt poor and have no funds to spare for anything. I am still in the research phases. I would like to create an app to help me design clothes, basically, and I don&#x27;t program (yet!) and that app hasn&#x27;t gotten developed, though I&#x27;ve done some research.<p>I&#x27;ve read business books and the like since I was a teen. I&#x27;ve done freelance work in recent years, so I&#x27;m not completely clueless, but this is a different animal.<p>I would like to somehow jump start this idea. So, pretty please, talk at me and answer the questions I&#x27;m too clueless to know to even ask.<p>Please and thank you.
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rahimnathwani
Start with the value proposition and price. Work backwards from there,
allowing for:

\- advertising / customer acquisition cost

\- distribution (labels, boxes, shipping, returns)

\- production

The questions I would ask myself if I were in your shoes:

\- what price will people pay for this?

\- what evidence do I have for that?

\- what are the closest substitutes for my envisioned product? How are they
doing? In what way will I be better or cheaper?

\- what are non-core activities that I should ignore, at least at the
beginning (e.g. developing software, interacting with potential competitors on
social media)

\- what is the minimum activity I can do, to get my first sale?

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DoreenMichele
Thank you.

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tlb
The good thing about mass customization startups is that you can get started
by just making individual custom items. You won't make money very fast but
you'll learn what customers want that isn't available anywhere else.

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DoreenMichele
That's helpful information.

I am my own ideal customer. If I were to start with individual custom items,
they would be for me.

I have a medical condition and I hate the Sluts R Us vibe of so much of
women's clothing and blah blah blah. I dream of doing this so I can stop
schlepping around in men's t-shirts and men's sweat pants, basically.

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opendomain
I would love to help.

I am the founder of several companies and non-profits. I also have won Startup
weekend 3 times mentoring teams on how to create a startup.

You can reach me Doreen AT Free DOT TV

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DoreenMichele
I have sent you an email. If you don't get one from me, my email address is in
my profile.

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opendomain
Nice to meet you!

I replied - i look forward to helping you

