First business endeavour, journey to launch and beyond

[C-Jay]

Hi all,

I've been on the forum for a few months. For the last two years or so I've been thinking of idea after idea and never getting down to action. In the last few days I've changed that, slowly but surely putting the pieces together for my first e-commerce business. I cannot stress enough just how motivating this forum is. Awesome community.

For background, I have a well-paying, pensionable slowlane job with full benefits. I don't exactly have it rough. I actually enjoy doing my job, but I despise the lack of freedom and control I have over it. At times it takes over my life completely for reasons I can't control. But, it's a necessary evil and I have no intention of leaving it anytime soon while I work after hours (and sometimes during work hours) on my own endeavours.

So, my business is the ultra-cliché first-timer clothing line. However, it's a niche clothing line in a market that is not at all saturated in my country (Canada).

That said, my market will only be scalable within Canada. Similar countries (notably, the USA) have similar companies who are wildly successful, but their target market is obviously much larger.

I'm not expecting this to turn into a money machine immediately. I understand that these things take time. Ultimately, I believe I can create a brand that will resonate with my audience and execute it, but I want to do it right. Further, I want to take action. I want to get away from just thinking and actually do something. I am confident that the skills I'll learn from this very simple venture will be a crucial and valuable start-state for future entrepreneurial projects.

Here's what I've gotten done in the last week or so:

1. Domain and hosting purchased
2. Sourced a print-on-demand company in the USA which has a <48hr flash-to-bang on receiving orders and pushing them out the door. I expect Canadian customers will receive their product within 5-6 days of purchasing. As far as dropshipping goes, I can't imagine doing much better than this. Yes, I'll take a fairly large hit as USA-priced clothing is far more expensive than say, Chinese clothing. But the quality is great, and the margins work. Build the brand first, get sales, work on efficiency/profitability as I go. I have the startup capital to purchase in bulk for much better margins, but I won't do it until I can prove that my brand is effective.
3. Conceptualized a logo and hired a freelancer to make me multiple drafts (I'm paying top dollar for this and gave a significant amount of time for completion; I don't want to rush to failure).
4. Conceptualized several designs for the clothing itself. I won't hire a freelancer for this until I'm satisfied with a logo.
5. Consulted several people in my niche market about the concept, to positive results.

Anyhow, I'll say thanks again to the community for pushing action. I'll keep this thread updated both as some reading material for everyone else, and as a medium of personal accountability for myself.

Wish me luck!

 

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