Owning a fashion business is really damn hard. When it comes to being an advocate for independent startup fashion designers, Nicole Giordano is forging the path - her way. Here, we talk about fears, challenging the status quo, how mindset is everything, and how her online community StartUp Fashion is helping fashion designers define their own paths for success.
Photo credit: StartUp FASHION
Losing impact. The most important part of my business is my ability to actually help the designers who follow us. Without that, what’s the point? Sometimes I worry about my ability to continue to offer useful advice and resources. What if I run out of ideas? What if I’m no longer helpful?
To deal with this fear, I do a few things. First, I constantly educate myself. I read books, listen to podcasts, subscribe to magazines and blogs—to keep on top of the industry, business, and the world. Second, I stay in constant communication with my audience and my members. Talking to them, listening to them, and acting on what I learn is imperative.
Too many to count! But two of the big ones are:
I’m in control of more than I think I am, so stop making excuses.
Creating consistency and forming habits are two of the most impactful actions you can take in business.
A few things that pop up often among the emerging fashion business community as a whole are getting in the right mindset and having a solid plan around the money.
With mindset, challenges with confidence seem to become an issue, as well as the ability to get vulnerable as a business owner. These two things need to be addressed and worked on for any business owner to succeed.
With the money, I once asked three industry experts how long new brands should expect to operate without profit and all three said 3 years. Too many new brands I see are flailing with the finances early on and giving up because they have no plan for how to both pay their bills as well as fund the business in the early years.
Photo credit: StartUp FASHION
At our core, we help independent startup fashion businesses take action, make progress, and reach their entrepreneurial goals.
We do that in a variety of ways:
I’m not sure if it’s something I live by, but my mantra when I’m struggling is: You can do this.
Well, this is a big question. I have a lot of advice to offer. But I guess the most important thing I could say right now is to make sure that you’re building your business around the life that you want to have, rather than trying to squeeze a life into the work you’re doing.
If you would like to become a member of the StartUp FASHION Community, you can apply here.
We are living in unprecedented times.
As a small business, we must figure out a way to survive and communication is key to survival. While large brands may have teams of communications experts to help craft their crisis communications and messaging, small businesses might not have such luxury. Read on to find the top 5 examples of good crisis emails.
