Re: Need Help & Suggestions
We had a boutique in Dallas, Texas, for about two years. Wife started from home.
We had a room in the garage built as a bedroom and after a while it became vacant. This room became our boutique.
Wife talked to a relative who had a good taste in clothes. He was based in Karachi. After a few discussions regarding styles and pricings in Karachi vs. current pricing of similar clothes in Dallas area, it was decided that we buy clothes form "Exclusives" boutique in Karachi and "She" line of clothes that are designed and marketed in/from Lahore. We didn't have a contact on the inside where clothers are produced so our only venue was to buy local retail. Clothes were shipped to us via DHL. First two shipments required very quick response to adjust the styling, coloring, material and costing.
After the first few shipments, we began to settle down and get comfortable with the process. Wife would talk to the relative before a new shipment would be required. Within a few weeks, we were bringing in about 20-25 sets per week. Within about 5-6 months we began to roll over a $1,000.00 - $2,000.00 per month. We began to advertise on the local desi radio, began to attend desi events to setup shop. We also did one other thing that no one has ever done before in home-based clothing business and we haven't seen done since. I will not divulge that tactic.
If you have taste in clothes, know how to sew, are good in combining different colors for suits then you are pretty much on the way. If you don't have these skills then I am not sure how long you'll sustain your business in a profitable way... or you might but only because people won't have a competitor to go to but they won't be totally happy customers. Most, then, would await their time to visit Pakistan or have the clothes arrive by other means. So, you must be comfortable with these aspects of clothes. My wife was very comfortable. But she wasn't alone in all this. I also was an integral part of the process after the clothes arrived.
Once the clothes arrived, we notified close friends of what we were doing and invited them. We began to do brisk business. We had customers who knew the "Exclusive" brand and styling (this is about 7-8 years ago) and would just tell my wife to pick out whatever number of dressed that they wanted and have them delivered. They would pay and not check the clothes before paying.
Much of our work, at the same time, was customer "service" related. Remember, people who "pay" you for your service and/or product expect not just the product or the service but also after-sale "support". There is a limit to what can be offered and done, obviously. But also do keep in mind the "type" of the customer base you will be dealing with. The desi customer will expect you, in actuality, to give them dressed at your own acquisition cost because "they know what these kinds of dressed cost in Pakistan". My wife told a doctor friend of ours, on this point, that she hadn't started a social service to help the mankind and that this was a business being conducted for "profit". She could as easily go to Pakistan to buy dressed if she chose to.
There were customers who, specifically, instructed my wife to notify them when the new shipments came in. They wanted to be the "first" to "see" the dresses and decide if they wanted to buy any.......... on the condition that the dresses were "one of a kind". We had to hide some dresses if they were duplicates.... this was an issue in the beginning but we learned and got only one-of-a-kind dress...sure there were some styling differences like sleeves, no sleeves, colors, type of work, etc. for dresses in the same family but different enough to be not counted as duplicates.
Also, the Pakistani dresses "must" move very fast. Put a 90 day holding time on a dress and you'd be lucky if the dress sells. The Indian dresses, in contrast, do not pose the same problem. Pakistani fashion is in constant flux and the ladies always know what's in style and what's going out of style. If you have your ears to the ground then you should have no problems with this.
Know your customers and, I am sure, you will learn fast as to who your big spenders are and what they like.
Stitched clothing is coming back in vogue as opposed to ready-made dresses. The styling is becoming very questionable, at best. My wife was in Lahore in September and tells me of seeing ladies in see-through dresses which was shocking to her. We have not seen those kinds of dresses here where we live.... atleast not yet.
If you start on small scale from home then you should be fine as you grow big. Once you start, you have to think like a business person. You have to look for opportunities all around: get business cards made up, fliers made up and ready to be placed in places around town, advertising.... start from your friends and have them tell others. If your product and pricing is enticing then you will be a winner right out of the gate.
Keep one thing in mind: Customer Service. Do things that others do not ... in the same line of business. Find out the competition and study them. Go to whatever boutiques and/or shops that sell desi clothes and study the merchandise. Do some heavy-lifting before you are ready to fire.
This is all I have right now. I am sure there's more but I can't think of it right now.
Please ask if you have any questions.
Good luck in your future if you have decided to start.
Where in the Middle East?