The first year was a rough one for him and I dedided to help him because I had some knowledge, I had sewn my own clothes for many years. I knew how a garment was constructed and so forth. However as you know the commercial apparel industrusty things are done differently that in your own home.

I began sourcing contractors and that has been a real eye opener. We have made alot of mistakes along the way but we have learned what we won’t do the next time. It is true about being nieve in the business because you really don’t know many of the bumps in the road until they happen. We just decided to never give up and we’ll make it happen!

We have met many people that have been more that happy to offer help. We also don’t have an attitude and are willing to learn anything we can from people in the industry. We finally have come across contractors that really work with us. I Can nod and say yes that is exactly true what you have said. Thanks for your expert advice.

It’s not on sale in HK. You can buy it from Amazon or me via paypal (follow the links on the upper left side of page). I fill all the amazon orders and guarantee it won’t take six weeks. I ship international priority mail.

I’m a Canadian based in Hong Kong and have been working on producing my own label (men’s leather bags and wallets). Contact me via the forum, we should get together.

Thanks so much. Amazing post. I don’t think playing the role of angel investor is what I want to do. More like, I’m interested in the industry and have a concept that I believe will work. I believe that the most important thing in an early start-up is to have the right partners, so that’s what I’m focusing on right now.

You’re realistic view about spending money definitely hit home with me. I’m loth to spending money but I understand that to get anywhere with a project such as this some substantial investment will probably be required.

As for listening to others, hopefully that’s one of my strengths, simply because I know I don’t know anything about the industry but I’m willing to learn as much as possible.

I haven’t read your book before but I will definitely go and pick it up. I’m not sure if it’s on sale in HK. If it is do you have any idea of which retailers stock it or if not can I buy it online? Amazon.com takes 6 weeks to send stuff to Hong Kong and I’m not keen on waiting so long.

Again, great post. Thanks so much.

Having been in this industry for 6 years and in software prior to that, I can attest to the fact that not being from Fashion background but having the right skills in product development has contributed to our success.

My company provides sampling and product development for private labels and new designer businesses – http://www.InStyleExchange.com

The successes amongst new designer businesses are folks with legal, accounting, real estate backgrounds. They don’t approach their business with ‘I know it all’ attitude. They are eager to learn, listen to the advise given by their peers and they watch what the reaction of every action taken.

It is an exciting time to be in this industry, especially the prospects of producing in the US and selling to the growing economies around the world!

Cheers ‘n Good Luck,
Kiran Bindra

I think another benefit of coming from a non-fashion school background is that person won’t be as constrained by what is supposedly the “right” way to do something. I come from a software background, where there’s always more than one way to solve a problem and I tend to take that approach in all my other ventures. Some of the things I’ve done in my sewing and design processes might make others cringe, but they work for me. Granted, some solutions are going to be better than others, but I’d rather not limit myself before I’ve even started. I think sometimes it’s probably better to learn by doing it wrong the first time. There’s often greater value in learning what not to do

As to connections, there is the saying ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’. I think this is true for books and for connections. When you are ready, the connections will just appear- but you have to do the work it takes to get to that point.

My general business plan for a start-up is as follows: Year 1: learn, make mistakes, learn. Year 2: Marketing, marketing, marketing, spend money, marketing. Year 3: Hopefully make some money by continuing to learn, market, and be able to cut spending because you have a higher minimum and better orders then in your first 2 years.

Oh, the other thing I wanted to say about those who are new to the industry is sometimes not knowing something is hard is the best way to get it done. I know that I dont offshore because I know all the pitfalls and it totally freaks me out. But I also know other companies who offshore right out of the gate and I am guessing they are making a better profit then I am because their costs are lower. So sometimes it is better not to know anything and just plow through it to learn.